Infectious diseases are a major cause of illness in developing countries. Rapid diagnostic tests can mean the difference between life and death in many instances. However, the costs of many laboratory tests are prohibitively expensive and so are used only sparingly.

To address this issue, the Dengue Relief Foundation is working on a collaborative initiative to develop rapid, inexpensive medical diagnostic tests for the detection of dengue and other serious medical illnesses.  Using recently developed novel technologies, these tests will be capable of rapid, color-based diagnosis at less than 25 cents each.

These rapid tests will allow for quicker and cost-effective diagnosis of dengue and related illnesses and more timely treatment. This will ultimately reduce the burden of these diseases and save thousands of lives.