A Nigerian Bio-technologist, Dr. Eddy Agbo, has been awarded the Africa Innovation Foundation’s Social Impact Prize for 2016. He won the prize for his Urine Test for Malaria (UMT), which is designed to make malaria detection cheaper and easier. 
Dr. Agbo was one of three winners announced by the AIF. The organization says the three scientists were chosen from a vast field of 985 applicants, from which 10 nominees were selected. The other winners were Dr. Valentine Agon of Benin Republic and Imogen Wright of South Africa. Dr. Agon was announced overall winner, with Dr. Wright coming second.
The Urine Test for Malaria developed by Dr. Agbo involves the use of a diagnostic medical device to carry out tests for malaria on urine; blood samples from are not needed. It works by detecting proteins associated with the malaria parasite, and results from the test can be obtained in less than 25 minutes. The UMT is also cost effective; it therefore meets the need for a cheap diagnostic test for malaria in developing countries.
The relevance of the UMT is underlined by the fact that about 438,000 lives were lost to the scourge of malaria in 2015; 90 percent of these deaths occurred in Africa. An easy and inexpensive diagnostic system helps to cut down on restrictions to the early detection and treatment of malaria, which is vital to reducing the number of malaria-related deaths.
The AIF Prize for Social Impact is worth $25,000.
The Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) was established in 2011. According to its initiators, the Africa Innovation Foundation, the prize was created to encourage Africans to come up with innovative, market driven solutions to Africa’s problems.
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