Sale of unauthorised Covid-19 home test kits rampant online

In spite of disapproval by the drug administration, unauthorised rapid Covid-19 test kits are being sold online through e-commerce sites and social media.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Bangladesh is only using Real Time PCR testing method, as opposed to Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits. WHO says the accuracy of the latter's diagnosis is questionable.

However, RDT kites are being imported illegally by these sellers without the knowledge of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA). Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said they are being imported through international courier services.

These kits are being advertised on Facebook pages and free classified advertising sites, seeking both wholesale and retail buyers.

Recently, police and Rab have seized 1,475 rapid testing kits from the capital's Banglamotor, Shahidbagh and Nikunja areas in separate drives.

"Good News! Now you can test coronavirus sitting at your home with 80 percent accuracy! It's almost the same as a diabetes test," read an advertisement on Facebook by Looks International Ltd on April 9. The advertisement cited their location at Dhaka's Karwan Bazar.

It included a contact number, and said a minimum of 1,000 test kits have to be ordered. The post was deleted right after Rab's drive.

Called, a staffer of the company picked up. He said they had initially imported these kits but later halted sales after the law enforcers' action.

"No lab visits, no doctors. Just one finger prick of blood!" read another Facebook post, saying its diagnosis comes in 10 to 15 minutes, with a staggering 92 percent accuracy.

Each box contains 25 test kits. The wholesale price of each kit is around Tk 450 while the retail price is from Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,600, the post mentioned.

In a Facebook group, one Suman Saha posted, "If anyone is looking for business opportunities, contact me. I have ready stocks, including Covid-19 test kits."

Earlier, a scandal occurred as the Gazipur city corporation mayor self-financed import of 50,000 unauthorised testing kits. He even distributed some of those to a few hospitals and upazilas.

Major Imad Uddin Laskar, company commander of Rab-3, said people who are worried about Covid-19 symptoms generally search for kits on e-commerce sites and Facebook for self-testing.

Rab said they will continue drives against the unauthorised testing kits stocked with the sellers.

Currently, WHO does not recommend the use of antigen or antibody detecting rapid diagnostic tests. Rapid diagnostic tests take only 15-20 minutes to produce results whereas RT-PCR tests take at least four hours.

WHO guidelines say RDTs do not detect the virus directly. It rather detects antigen or antibody generated in the human body in response to an infection.

However, antibodies are produced over days to weeks after the virus is contracted. So, if a person takes the test before that period, the results can show the person is not infected. Thus both false negative and false positive results can be generated.

The newly formed "media cell" of the health ministry said any kit without government approval would not be acceptable for testing coronavirus.

"No coronavirus testing kit without government's approval will be accepted," said Habibur Rahman Khan, additional secretary to the Health Services Division and also the convener of the media cell, adding that coronavirus test is being conducted under government arrangement only with approved kits following the instructions of the WHO.

The government is working as per the WHO directives over rapid testing kits, he added.

Questions arise how these unauthorised testing kits have been imported to the country without knowledge of any government bodies and have become available on online market for sell.

DGDA said self-initiated purchase of these kits is not allowed.

"They are doing the business illegally. We didn't give them approval to import those. The government didn't allow any such rapid testing in the country," DGDA Director General Maj Gen Md Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star recently.

"When any such product is being imported into the country, they have to take our NOC (No Objection Certificate) first. Otherwise, it's illegal," he said.

The DGDA chief said their team will work alongside law enforcers to take action against these sellers.