BOGOTA – Argentina recently agreed to use home tests to detect Covid-19, being a pioneer in this because in most countries in the region, the sale of self-tests is not allowed. Colombia wants to get in on this wave as well.
Colombian merchants through the union that brings them together, Finalco, have proposed to the Ministry of Health to allow them to sell home tests for the detection of coronavirus. The suggestion comes amid a new rise in infections caused by the presence of omicron.
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The union highlighted that “selling these home tests without a prescription has become a priority for the country’s public health,” adding that these tests will allow rapid detection and less spread since “long waiting times in laboratories and EPS require an immediate solution.”
The proposal was made by Fenalco through a letter sent to the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz. In the letter, union president Jaime Alberto Cabal stated that home tests for Covid-19 should be allowed to be marketed, “which have proven to be effective in detecting new infections in a timely manner during this new peak of the virus.”
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For Fenalco, it is worrying that currently in Colombia it is not possible to detect infections quickly due to the lack of timely access to the free tests performed by EPS, due to the high costs of private tests, which range from $100,000 to $300,000. and delays in results, which may take between 3 and 4 days for each test.
“The use of these products and their free trade voluntarily and quickly will allow them to find or eliminate cases of Covid-19, they will contribute in an important way to the family economy due to their low value, they will help relieve the congestion of health systems with cases from light suspicion and will lead to preventive results on the part of the population,”
– Jaime Alberto Caballe.
“Beeraholic. Friend of animals everywhere. Evil web scholar. Zombie maven.”
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