Background

Since the first occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 127 million cases were reported globally, with nearly 3 million deaths. Ethiopia attributed about 200,000 cases with nearly 3,000 deaths. However, these reported cases might not reflect the actual situation of the COVID-19 impact due to several factors, including testing capacity, type of tests used, testing strategies, and health-seeking behavior of the population. In addition, the clinical presentations in most of the SARS-CoV-2 infections reported to be either mild or asymptomatic in nature and hence are less likely to be detected by the surveillance system. Therefore, a population-based serological test is considered a valuable tool in estimating the proportion of the population previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 and advising COVID-19 vaccinations strategies and priorities in Ethiopia.

AHRI, in collaboration with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), USA has successfully developed an ELISA-based COVID-19 antibody testing technology with the performance comparable to the most widely used commercially available SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection kits. Most importantly, the assay is affordable and scalable to meet the growing demands in Ethiopia and beyond. The ELISA-based COVID-19 antibody testing technology may also be a viable tool to prioritize and determine COVID-19 vaccine distribution due to the nature of a limited vaccine supply, deterring the vaccines in those with recent exposure/seropositive would be an approach one may consider providing the vaccine to most needy. Serology testing before vaccination would be an ideal step in a resource-limited setting might follow; or, seropositive individuals may not need booster doses if they mount adequate adaptive immune response with a single dose. Thus, the serology testing kit produced by AHRI has a huge potential for scale-up and this has not only a public health advantage but also renders considerable economic benefit. Scaling up of the COVID-19 serology testing capacity requires the engagement of the private pharmaceuticals manufacturing sector as well as the regulatory bodies and users of the testing kit. Therefore, AHRI is planning to conduct a consultative meeting with stakeholders to translate the knowledge and innovation into practice in the fight against COVID-19 and may lay a landmark for future local capacity-building activities.

Aim

The consultative workshop aims to aware the stakeholders and to discuss a scale-up (translation) and partnership plan for the COVID-19 serology testing kit in Ethiopia

Consultative workshop for scale-up of locally developed COVID-19 antibody test