Nigeria named among major markets for $1 test bundle — Premium Times Nigeria
Nigeria has been listed among the countries with the largest potential market for antenatal hepatitis B screening. A new bundle of rapid tests costing $1 per pregnant woman could help expand screening for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B within antenatal care, according to Premium Times Nigeria.
The Triple Elimination Testing Bundle was launched by Premier Medical Corporation and Impact Nexus Africa. It includes two separate rapid diagnostic tests offered as one commercial bundle for use through existing antenatal care services.
What the bundle includes
The bundle includes the World Health Organization-prequalified First Response HIV 1+2/Syphilis Combo Card Test. It enables simultaneous screening for HIV and syphilis. The second component is the First Response HBsAg Card Test, which detects the hepatitis B virus surface antigen.
The bundle costs $1 per woman on an ex-works basis. It also provides access to digital tools for training, assessment and verification of user competency. At the same time, the amount does not include freight, local distribution, taxes, regulatory costs or other expenses for programme implementation. The minimum order is 100,000 bundles.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Estimates of possible savings
According to the companies' calculations, the bundle is 22–46% cheaper in terms of commodity costs than purchasing comparable rapid tests for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B separately. Their modelling covers 74 low- and middle-income countries, where potential annual demand for antenatal HBsAg tests is estimated at 37.8 million.
Impact Nexus Africa forecasts that, under modelled implementation in 2026–2035, the bundle could deliver around $215 million in savings on test procurement. This is not a confirmed amount of savings for individual countries, including Nigeria: the result will depend on current procurement prices, testing volumes, the scale and pace of implementation.
Screening in Nigeria
Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa were also listed among the countries with the greatest potential for such screening. According to an analysis of data from the 2026 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 72% of mothers in Nigeria received antenatal care, but only 12.3% underwent hepatitis B testing during pregnancy.
Earlier, an analysis of data on approximately 2.8 million pregnant women receiving antenatal care at more than 6,000 facilities showed that 7.2% of them were screened for hepatitis B. Nigeria's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare stated in 2025 that it intended to introduce free testing, treatment and medical support for pregnant women found to have hepatitis B.
