KENYA – Pathologists Lancet Kenya Limited, part of the Lancet Group of Laboratories, has slashed the prices of its Covid-19 tests specifically a 28 per cent reduction for all walk-in clients in a bid to boost efforts in further reducing cases of infection in the country.

Pathologists Lancet Kenya Limited operates primarily in the private healthcare environment and offers specialist pathology services to doctors and their patients directly or through clinics and hospitals, industrial sectors, corporates and insurance companies.

The medical firm also serves clinical trials and research groups through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and its main laboratory in Upper Hill is the first in East Africa to receive ISO15189 accreditation for SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing granted by the Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS) in 2020.

Lancet Kenya has announced that it will now cost walk-in clients KES 4,949 to access Covid-19 PCR tests compared to the previous price KES 6,949 in a move that comes as a relief to Kenyans who require COVID-19 certificates to facilitate their movement.

To date, the facility has done the highest number of COVID-19 PCR tests among private labs in the country.

In October 2021, Airlines lobby International Air Transport Association (IATA) linked the high cost of COVID-19 test in Kenya to the stifled growth of the aviation sector since it impedes tourists particularly the US$80 that Kenya charges for a single PCR test is the most expensive in East Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that PCR testing, which is the NAAT testing or that tests the nucleic acid of the virus itself, are the most sensitive ones.

WHO declared that most PCR assays are indicated as an aid for diagnosis thus health care providers must consider any result in combination with timing of sampling, specimen type, assay specifics, clinical observations, patient history, confirmed status of any contacts and epidemiological information.

Pathologists Lancet Kenya Limited was the first independent private laboratory in East Africa to start COVID-19 PCR testing in April 2020, when it set home-grown innovative lab scientists and pathologists to combat the pandemic.

Lancet Kenya stressed that PCR is the most advanced of the three main Covid-19 tests as it reveals whether someone has the virus in the early stages of the infection.

Pathologists Lancet Kenya Managing Director Mwende Musunga noted that reduced costs of COVID-19 tests will boost awareness among Kenyans as well as minimize the risk of transmission of COVID-19 at a time when Kenya’s positivity rate has declined.

“With the reduction, we have facilitated a cut in expenses that would have been incurred by Kenyans who require the PCR tests for travel, work or other purposes except for COVID-19 symptoms or contact tracing,” the Managing Director added.

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