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Paidamoyo Chipunza Senior Reporter
Government has rejected a donation of malaria test kits worth nearly $500 000 after the partner, Chemonics International procured a ‘controversial’ test kit that was once rejected by local medical professionals years back, The Herald has learnt.
Sources close to the happenings allege that Government provided Chemonics International with its list of preferred test kits used in this country.
It is, however, not clear how the organisation settled for Para-Check- the test kit that made headlines sometime in 2012 — yet it was not on the Government’s preferred list.
“No one really knows what transpired because we do not use Para-Check in this country. Government ceased to use this test kit long back following an outcry by doctors that the kit was not giving accurate results,” said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Adding that normally when procurements are done even by partners, they are provided with preferred products used by the country.
“In this case, we do not know how they arrived at Para-Check,” added the source. Efforts to get a comment from Chemonics International country director Mrs Caroline Mashingidze were fruitless as her mobile phones were not reachable.
But Health and Child Care Secretary Dr Gerald Gwinji said Zimbabwe’s preferred test kits were SD Bioline and First Response.
Dr Gwinji said the latest version of Para-Check was not yet on the World Health Organisation’s pre-qualification list, hence, the decision by the country to reject it.
“It does not mean when a product is not pre-qualified by WHO, it must not be used and it also does not mean it is not effective. It is really a country decision,” said Dr Gwinji.
He said when the test kits where procured, the partner consulted Government if it could proceed to bring them into the country, but Government rejected the offer.
“They made technical consultations on whether they could proceed to bring the kits into the country even though they were not what we had asked for, but we respectfully said no,” said Dr Gwinji.
“They support malaria initiatives in a number of countries in the African region and there are some countries, which are still using this test kits, which they can give,” he said.
Para-Check was last used in Zimbabwe in 2012 after practitioners expressed concern over its unreliability in confirming malaria. In addition, WHO had also expressed concern over some non-conformities associated with the kits.Zimbabwe then took a position that future use of the kits would be guided by WHO’s performance assessments.
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