Malaysia’s largest prescription pharmacy, Alpro welcomes the Health Ministry’s decision to approve the sales of ‘Gmate Covid-19 Ag Saliva home self-test kits’ across certified pharmacies and online platforms.
Alpro’s Chief Pharmacist, Lim En Ni, said that the Government’s decision to making the self-test kits readily available for the benefit of Malaysians comes timely as the number of reported daily infection cases are in the five-figure range of late.
“Whilst conducting nasopharyngeal swab test (PCR test) remains the gold standard in identifying COVID-19 infections, the antigen test which uses saliva testing is reported to have 90.9% sensitivity and 100% specificity towards SARS-CoV-2 in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.
“The user-friendly, non-invasive saliva-based testing can be self-administered and it would help to speed up the screening of COVID-19 infections and lead to more effective pandemic control,” said En Ni.
While the ready availability and open access to the self-test kits spell good news to detect and control COVID-19 infections, En Ni cautioned the public to be extra careful in only purchasing home self-test kits from authorised parties.
“With the expected surge in demand for the self-test kits, we would like to advise the public to remain vigilant of fake pharmaceutical products and to only buy the screening tools from authorised outlets and platforms.
“The Gmate Covid-19 Ag Saliva home self-test kits work similarly to a self-test pregnancy test kit, with double-coloured lines signifying a ‘positive’ result. Should a user get a ‘positive’ result, the immediate next step is to connect with a healthcare provider and self-quarantine,” said En Ni.
“Users must also check for any warning signs such as breathing difficulties, unresolved high fever, or low oxygen saturation and subsequently report to the COVID-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) via MySejahtera app,” she added.
Hoping for the overall process of self-testing to be completed safely and seamlessly, En Ni requested the public to ensure the safe disposal of the used self-test kits as well.
“Upon completing the test, place the test kit in the provided biohazard disposal bag and dispose of them safely to avoid any cross infections from taking place,” she said.
The Gmate Covid-19 Ag Saliva home self-test kits are now available for purchase across all Alpro Pharmacy outlets and online via www.alprooneclick.com for as low as RM39.90. In addition, Alpro Pharmacy held a live demonstration on 18th July sharing Antigen Test Kit on their official Facebook page (@alpropharmacy).
For further inquiries, the public can chat with a pharmacist via the e-pharmacy Whatsapp hotline at 019-7021923.
#staysafe
