Chembio Diagnostics Inc, which develops, manufactures, markets and licenses point-of-care diagnostic tests, and is the only NY-based manufacturer of rapid HIV/AIDS testing products, will be taking an active role in the annual AIDS Walk New York on Sunday, May 15, 2011. Not only is Chembio among the walk’s sponsors, company employees will also be participating in this historic walk to raise funds for AIDS research.
Lawrence Siebert, Chembio’s chief executive officer, said, "When AIDS Walk New York began in 1986, AIDS was a death sentence. Just getting tested was a stressful exercise, as it took days for the lab work to come back. Now, thanks to hard work from some of the world’s best scientists, AIDS is treatable, and Chembio’s tests have reduced the time it takes to know one’s HIV status to a matter of minutes. Someday, AIDS will be curable—until that happens, we’ll keep on walking. We at Chembio are proud to be a part of it and we invite everybody to come join us on this historic walk.
"Since last year’s AIDS Walk New York, Chembio has received regulatory approval from Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency to market our Dual Path Platform (DPP®) HIV 1/2 rapid test as well as our HIV 1/2 confirmatory rapid test for use with oral fluid, blood, serum or plasma samples, in that country,” said Siebert. “The confirmatory test uniquely detects five different strains of HIV in a single point-of-care device. We are proud to be on the forefront of efforts to reduce the time to diagnosis and improve the lives of those with this horrible disease."
