Salixium, the first Malaysian-made COVID-19 rapid antigen self-testing kit which will be available to the public starting today (July 19), allows everyone to take the antigen test at their own home.
Designed by MeDKAD Sdn Bhd, Salixium is one of the two self-test kits that have been given conditional approval for import and distribution in Malaysia. Gmate COVID-19 Ag Saliva for Home Use by Philosys Co Ltd from Korea is the other rapid self-test kit approved by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
However, the Chief Executive of Medical Devices Authority, Ahmad Shariff Hambali said in a media statement on July 15 that these self-test kits do not replace the real-time diagnostic function of the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
He said the self-test kit is aimed to accelerate the process of detecting the virus, as well as to control the infections in the country. Since the public can now conduct self-screening, it will ease the burden of our healthcare workers who have been working tirelessly in battling this pandemic.
Project manager of MeDKAD, Syahriah Razak explained that the antigen test takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to perform.
“This self-test kit is to determine the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 antigen. A pink-purplish band will be shown for a positive result and absence of the band indicates a negative result,” he said.
At present, Salixium can be purchased on the MeDEKAD website which is priced at only RM39.90. These test kits can be sold at registered community pharmacies as well as health facilities.
Gisele Soo
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