Nigeria: Enhancing NPHI Laboratory Capacity

Africa’s most populous country has the world’s fourth largest TB burden, with nearly 374,000 estimated new cases annually. The emergence of drug-resistant TB is threatening TB control efforts, which are hampered by a lack of laboratory capacity for TB molecular epidemiology and rapid diagnostic tests. 

At the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) IANPHI supported the development of a new TB Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory and the use of a new improved molecular test for MDR-TB.  The rapid GenoType® MTBDR plus test, developed by Hain Lifescience with support from the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), detects INH- and rifampin-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis in sputum.  The assay provides results within a few hours and is highly sensitive and specific when performed by trained personnel.

IANPHI helped arrange for training and validation support for this effort by Hain Lifescience, U.S. CDC, and the Harvard School of Public Health.  NIMR will use the Hain test in the national TB prevalence study scheduled to begin in early 2009. In the interim, the test will be used in an MDR-TB survey to generate data on the prevalence of drug resistance – for submission to the Green Light Committee for approval of use of second-line TB drugs in Nigeria.

On June 30, 2008, WHO officially announced approval of the use of this technique for diagnosis of MDR-TB in developing countries..

IANPHI site visit summary (pdf, 79 kt)

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