According to WHO in 2015, there were roughly 212 million malaria cases and an estimated 429 000 malaria deaths. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2015, the region was home to 90% of malaria cases and 92% of malaria deaths. In general, the lack of low cost diagnostics for malaria results in late diagnosis of the disease in many low income communities (contributing to high morbidity and mortality from severe forms of malaria), and over-treatment of malaria where syndromic management is used due to lack of point-of-care diagnostics (contributing to wastage of money on treatment of non-malarial illness especially since the new recommended Artemisinin-based therapies are expensive).
Matibabu addresses malaria disease management through cost-effective early diagnosis of malaria, reducing the amount of medication, duration of treatment and infection rate. Matibabu offers prompt, accurate diagnosis reducing power challenges & the need for trained personnel. It also offers a data collection model that logs the location and results of diagnosis that helps in making an informed decision about malaria for a given location. Matibabu innovation is based on the research and innovation of creating a non-invasive technology for diagnosis of diseases specifically malaria using light scattering and magnetism. The Matibabu system’s working principle is based on the measurement of the orthogonal light polarization components generated in a magnetically active sample, as is the case of blood infected by malaria.
The matibabu diagnostic kit for the disease serves highly in reducing cases of late diagnosis and self-treatment cases based on just symptoms. The technology has a potential value of reduced socio-economic costs of the disease for 300-500 million people. This is in direct correspondence with the sustainable goal of promoting good health and well being of the people.
