Business Insider Africa
Lab-Away, a European startup offering at-home medical tests and preventive treatment is teaming-up with UNICEF to combat the rapid surge of HIV, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea in Sudan. The company, founded by Ivan Stanchev and Pavlin Hristov and based in Sofia, Bulgaria, provides rapid at-home tests for the most common STDs, illicit substances, reproductive issues, and vitamin deficiencies. The startup will donate STD tests worth $165,000 as part of a wider UNICEF partnership to curb the rapid infection rates in the Sub-Saharan country. The news was first made public by the Embassy of Republic of Sudan in Sofia and later also confirmed by UNICEF.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Sudan is one of the most affected by STDs and STIs countries in the world. Nearly 35% of all Sudanese males have an STD or STI with Gonorrhea being the most common. Among these, almost half of them report being infected by a sex worker. Women in Sudan represent the demographics group which is the most exposed to STDs and STIs in the entire world. Given the fact that official numbers are difficult to obtain and verify, the real number of infected people or those at risk of infection might be truly staggering.
During a social event organized by UNICEF in Johannesburg, South Africa, Lab-Away co-founder and CTO Pavlin Hristov said that the idea about his company was born during the Covid-19 pandemic.