Uganda runs short of Covid-19 testing kits

The government has blamed the shortage of Covid-19 testing kits on increased number of truck drivers and limited supply from foreign manufacturers, as well as delays in cargo movement.

Dr Julius Lutwama, the UVRI deputy director, told Daily Monitor that they had no single testing kit left in their store and they are now relying on borrowed kits from Makerere University Hospital.

The University hospital last month received a donation of 40, 000 test kits from Case Western

Reserve University in the United States.Dr Lutwama said the specific components they are lacking in the testing kits are the probes and primers.

“The kits are made up of RNA/ DNA extraction, the master mix, probes and primers,” he explained.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a self-replicating material which is present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid present in all living cells. Its principal role is to act as a messenger carrying instructions from DNA for controlling the synthesis of proteins, although in some viruses RNA rather than DNA carries the genetic information.

The probes and primers are used to determine whether the sample actually has the coronavirus being sought. A sample often has a number of other viruses.

Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the UVRI director, however, disclosed, without providing specifics, that the government had placed an order for the kits and that they would reach here soon.

The only institute mandated to test Covid-19 has so far tested more than 58, 000 samples.

Although the UVRI boss didn’t specify the particular components of the kits that are depleted, others sources in the Health ministry talked of wasting kits on Ugandans with different ailments and the lockdown in China and other countries.

“Globally, people are having this challenge. The biggest problem is transportation,” Prof Kaleebu explained.