African countries are building their own diagnostic factories to end a dangerous reliance on imported tests. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed what happens when a continent depends on other nations for health products—supplies dried up, and responses faltered. This research tackles that structural weakness by asking a concrete question: what are the actual health and financial benefits of making more diagnostics available, both new and existing, within Africa? The team will work with community members, manufacturers, researchers, and policymakers in Ethiopia, Senegal, and South Africa—three countries at different stages of domestic production. If successful, the project will produce hard evidence on the costs and benefits of scaling up access to diagnostics. That evidence could reshape how governments and funders invest in supply chains, manufacturing capacity, and distribution networks. The goal is not just better health outcomes—fewer missed cases, less drug resistance—but a more resilient system that can handle the next pandemic without scrambling for tests made thousands of miles away.
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Diagnostics play a crucial role in improving global health by enabling early disease detection, effective treatment, and prevention of drug resistance. The call for African countries to build their own capacity for diagnostic, drug and vaccine production is a vital step toward improving healthcare outcomes and fostering self-reliance. It involves addressing longstanding structural issues, building trust, and interventions to strengthen health systems across the continent. A continued reliance on other countries for health products is unsustainable and places African countries at risk, as seen during the COVID-19 response. Understanding optimal distribution channels and the market landscape of diagnostics is critical for longer-term control and surveillance strategies and pandemic preparedness. Unequal and inappropriate access to diagnostics poses individual and population level risks. Working alongside community members, diagnostic manufacturers, leading researchers and policy makers, the aim of this research is to provide evidence on the cost and benefits to health and finances when there is increase in access to diagnostics, both new and old. This research will focus on the African Region, with particular emphasis on Ethiopia, Senegal and South Africa. Three countries at different stages of domestic production of diagnostics and ensuring those in need have access to priority diagnostics.
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