Jul 25, 2001 (UN Integrated Regional Information Network/All Africa Global
Media via COMTEX)-- A US pharmaceutical company, CALCOL Inc,CLCL-OTC has announced that it would immediately begin to make, sell, and distribute cheap HIV/AIDS Test
Kits on a large scale for areas which have been worst hit by HIV/AIDS, reported
'Marketletter' on Tuesday. The Quick Aids Test Kits are currently sold in Kenya,
Nigeria and some South American companies.

The company announced that the initiative to mass market the low cost test kits
was prompted by recent efforts by major international organisations and
corporations to help raise US $7-10 billion per year for the global health fund
sponsored by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The firm has submitted proposals
for test production to the United Nations and UNAIDS, the Global Business
Council, and Coca Cola Co. which have all pledged large sums to battle the virus
globally. CALCOL said it was aiming at a price of US $1.95 per unit to
international agencies.

Earlier this month, the irregular and limited accessibility of HIV test kits in
Zambia forced the Churches Medical Association of Zambia (CMAZ) to recommend
that its members institute a prioritisation scheme. The CMAZ advised members
that in order to maximise the use of HIV testing, HIV test kits should be
distributed preferentially to hospitals and not to health centres when test kits
are in short supply. A CMAZ spokesperson told IRIN on Tuesday that the current
price of a test kit in Zambia was about US $3 per test and they would welcome
any test kits that were cheaper, provided they met with international standards.

Copyright UN Integrated Regional Information Network. Distributed by All Africa
Global Media(AllAfrica.com)

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KEYWORD: AIDS

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