Microchip offers hope to SA epidemic patients
Ugandan doctor hopes his microfluidic chip will help fight against TB and HIV at new Durban research centre.
A Ugandan doctor has invented a microfluidic chip to test for tuberculosis that can do the work of dozens of laboratory technicians, saving time and money.
Dr Frederick Balagadde has now brought the technology to Durban, South Africa where a new $40m centre for HIV and tuberculosis research has opened.
Balagadde hopes to develop his invention further and engage in cutting-edge research in an area suffering from these two major epidemics.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world and because tuberculosis flourishes in people with
deficient immune systems it is the leading cause of death in HIV patients.
Al Jazeera’s Tania Page reports from Durban.