Australia: HIV Test Wins Award

A CD4 test developed by researchers at Melbourne's Burnet Institute has received an international award for innovation. The test, to be manufactured by Omega Diagnostics Group, uses a blood drop from a finger-prick to track the damage caused by HIV; it delivers results in less than an hour and is much cheaper and more efficient than existing tests. The money accompanying the award will be used by Professor Stanley Luchters of the Institute's Center for International Health to validate the test among HIV-positive pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. The test was one of 15 projects funded through Saving Lives at Birth, an initiative support by USAID, Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and the UK Department for International Development.

Back to other news for July 2012