The fight against HIV and Aids in the Western Cape has been significantly boosted with the donation of a multi-million rand mobile laboratory by a German engineering company.

This follows an official visit to Germany last week by Health MEC Theuns Botha, during which he signed a donation agreement with the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering, a move that is expected to expedite HIV and counselling programmes across the province.

The R15-million state-of-the-art laboratory also contains a patient area, sample storage facilities, an autoclave, power supply and satellite-linked communications.

According to Botha, the unit will be able to screen 40 people a day.

He said that the agreement heralded a research partnership between Fraunhofer, the Western Cape Department of Health and the University of Stellenbosch.

In terms of the agreement, the Fraunhofer Institute, assisted by the German government and German organisations, will help to provide technical support.

Experts will also help to maintain the lab while it is piloted in the Western Cape.

The institute, a leader in medical biobanking and diagnostic technologies, has a close working relationship with Stellenbosch University in the bio-research field.

Botha said: "This unit will accelerate our provincial HIV counselling and testing campaign. We are now able to take the clinic and the laboratory to the community.

"This is in line with our promise to make health care accessible, in particular to rural communities, and improve the patient experience."

He said the laboratory would evaluate patients' eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART), and perform relevant baseline tests such as CD4 counts on the same day. "This means staff will be able to refer such clients to existing ART sites of the department in a more expedient and effective manner."

In addition, the laboratory would offer screening services for infectious diseases, cervical cancer and tuberculosis, which would help decrease the stigma associated with an "HIV-only" service.

The mobile unit, which is due to arrive in October, has undergone a trial run in Germany and has been approved according to all relevant German and European standards.

Botha said: "The Western Cape provincial government wishes to express its appreciation and gratitude towards the institute, and to the German government, for its generosity and acknowledgement of our initiative to improve access to HIV counselling and testing, and antiretroviral eligibility, which is in line with the new Western Cape ministerial directive of up-scaling ... ART services in the province."