Ukweli Test Strips for UTIs

Our Bold Idea is the Ukweli Test Strip - a low-cost test for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs), in rural areas of Sierra Leone, where women currently lack an affordable tool for screening UTIs. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to UTIs: In sub-Saharan Africa, 30-50% of pregnant women will contract one. UTIs often go undiagnosed because of barriers to testing, including cost, accessibility and social stigma. For a pregnant woman and her growing fetus, this is dangerous: An undetected UTI can spread to the kidney and bloodstream and can cause premature labor, slow intra-uterine growth, low birth weight or spontaneous abortion. Helping our Bold Idea have a big impact will require research to explore the best ways to make sure women access test strips, which test for three markers: leukocytes, nitrates, and pH. Our research will focus on finding the best entry point for test strips into the existing healthcare system so women can be treated quickly, and are less likely to go into labor early. We will study a series of scenarios that will examine different distribution methods and their efficacy at delivering this innovation to the target population in Sierra Leone (SL). By partnering with local hospitals, clinics, and Community Health Workers (CHWs) we will work with several communities to conduct screening and referral for treatment (available in SL). Using our findings, we will identify the most promising distribution and screening methods and scale-up our efforts.