On 29 September, the Government of Flanders granted an amount of 1,1 million euros to vzw Apopo in Mozambique. Apopo trains giant pouched rats in the detection of tuberculosis.
In countries with limited resources, tuberculosis remains a major problem. Apopo succeeded in training rats in the detection of tuberculosis. The method can be rapidly and easily used to detect TB in large numbers of human saliva samples.
Apopo started this initiative in 2011. In the third phase of this project, Apopo will continue to improve the TB detection rate by switching to more reliable and advanced control technology. The Government of Flanders has allocated grants to APOPO since 2002, initially for its mine detection programme in Mozambique.
(Photo: Geraldine Reynemants, General Representative of the Government of Flanders in Southern Afrika visiting the project of Apopo in Mozambique – 23 August 2017)