Pioneering African diagnostic programme to be showcased at international event

A pioneering programme which is bringing affordable, reliable and portable diagnostics for multiple diseases to sub-Saharan Africa is set to be presented at an event linked to the United Nations General Assembly this week. A pioneering programme which is bringing affordable, reliable and portable diagnostics for multiple diseases to sub-Saharan Africa is set to be presented at an event linked to the United Nations General Assembly this week. On Thursday 14 September, members of the Digital Innovations and Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases in Africa project, or DIDIDA, will be part of an event organised by the International Science Summit around the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78). DIDIDA , supported by £6.75m in funding from the European Union and UKRI, is developing new ways to use lateral flow tests, similar to those used to diagnose COVID-19, to diagnose more than one disease at the same time in even the most remote locations. The technology aims to diagnose multiple infectious conditions including the five leading causes of death in sub-Saharan Africa: severe respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrhoea, malaria, and tuberculosis. Together, they kill more than six million people each year. The tests are run on portable devices which use a process called loop-mediated isothermal amplification to test DNA samples collected on lateral flow strips with remarkable sensitivity.