DNA Testing Too Expensive in Uganda

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted August 8, 2007 in DNA Around the World, DNA Testing

Uganda may have gotten its first “DNA machine” but Josephine Nakato Matovu reminds us that costs are prohibitive for many people, including victims of sexual assault.

I know that the DNA machine could be utilised in solving crimes with the collection of DNA evidence to compare against suspects and/or offenders in sexual assault cases.

However, I am sure that few women and children are in a position to pay the large amounts of money for DNA testing that is required to prove their cases in court.

According to the UK Department for International Development , per capita income in Uganda is around $300 per year. With the average cost of paternity testing in Uganda set at $240*, it’s obvious that no average citizen could afford this. The question is, can the police?

DNA testing is not just too expensive for citizens of Uganda. The South Africa DNA Project was founded to address this issue and to support forensics DNA testing. Maybe charitable organizations, like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, should consider tackling the availability of DNA tests not just for forensics, but for medical genetic testing as well. It’s certainly a more soluble problem than many other public health concerns.

*”At-home” paternity tests in the US where you collect your own DNA and send it in to the lab can be as little as $99.

Tags: uganda, south africa, dna testing, genetics, genes, dna, public health, forensics

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Comment by Pankaj Sohaney

2007-08-27 06:35:37

Eastern Biotech in Dubai is offering better price for African countries, what you have mentioned in the discussion. Thanks

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Comment by Afshin

2008-09-04 18:12:46

Hi,

i am in the DNa forensics lab in Cape Town, South Africa and have also lived in Uganda so I can understand the problem. Can someone suggest ways of getting funding so that free or affordable cover can be offered in that region?

Thanks

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