from USA Today By Steve Sternberg,Scientists have unraveled the genetic code of a malaria parasite that sickens hundreds of millions of people each year, a step that may lead to better treatment and a vaccine.The bug, known to researchers as Plasmodium vivax, is the main cause of malaria in Latin America and Southeast Asia, accounting for as much as 40% of up to 500 million cases worldwide each year. It was once entrenched in the USA. In 2002, a small cluster of cases were reported in Loudoun County, Va., near Washington, D.C.The mosquito-borne parasite doesn't arouse the same level of scientific concern as its African cousin, Plasmodium falciparum, because it rarely kills. Falciparum malaria, found in Africa, is the leading cause of death of children younger than 5.But vivax malaria is,...
Following coverage of the newly-branded,
$3bn-funded “Global Malaria Action Plan”, I have co-authored an article arguing
that in spite of grabbing headlines, this centralised “foreign aid” approach
misses the point.
It is well acknowledged that malaria
continues to kill over a million people every year, mainly in Africa,
with a child dying every 30 seconds from what is an entirely preventable and
curable illness.
Along with Jasson Urbach, an economist for Africa Fighting Malaria, I argue that policy-makers should
not just look upon these tragic figures and think “something must be done”, but
rather question why the situation is so bad in the first place.
Once the symptoms are found, the best cure
can be prescribed.
And as explained in the...
from the Daily Star Egypt By Jasson Urbach & Julian HarrisThe UN convened this week in New York to discuss its Millennium Development Goals and the aim of “ending poverty by 2015.” Delegates and a rock star boasted of billions of dollars transferred to African governments, while failed schemes prompted activists to call for even more money. Donors re-branded the failed Roll Back Malaria scheme and promised $3 billion.Donors already spend over $600 million a year in Africa to fight the disease, with the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) alone set to devote another $1.2 billion over the next five years. Yet, while some progress is being made, malaria is still the leading cause of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, where a child dies from the disease every 30...
from World Vision The humanitarian agency World Vision, in an effort to reduce infant mortality, has taken a bold initiative for a worldwide elimination of mosquitoes.This was made known by its President, Rich Stearns in a statement, adding that the good news is that the elimination of malaria is possible as was done in the United States in 1951.He pointed out that now it's time for the rest of the world to benefit from the U.S experience and that by God's mercy and in partnership with other humanitarian organizations and individuals, World Vision is determined to end malaria in the entire world."We have launched this initiative to: significantly increase private funding for anti-malaria programs; advocate for increased government commitments, including at least $1 billion per year from...
from the Age THE people are desperately hungry. Two thousand of them queue from early morning to see Australian nurse Alana Baker and her co-workers for the chance to escape from the grip of acute malnutrition.Drizzling rain and cool temperatures do not deter them nor does the crowd-control man whipping people back into line with a branch. Their babies cry. They wait.Ms Baker, 28, is in the second week of a three-month mission in southern Ethiopia with Medecins Sans Frontieres Belgium, working as an outreach nutritional nurse.Thousands of people, mainly farmers, travel up to 250 kilometres to reach the mobile clinic where Ms Baker and up to 10 other staff work.The team visits five locations each week, testing for malaria and screening the people for severe and moderately acute...
from EGov Monitor Leading figures from government, business and civil society will meet next week in New York to highlight how close the world is to ending malaria deaths by the target date of 2015, a goal that the United Nations special envoy for the disease says is clearly within reach.According to a report released by the World Health Organization yesterday, progress in malaria control has accelerated dramatically since 2006, particularly in the wake of the Secretary-General’s call for universal malaria control coverage by the end of 2010. “If we accomplish the Secretary-General’s goal then we will be able to bring malaria deaths to near zero by 2015 at the latest,” Ray Chambers, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria, said in an interview with the UN News...
from Foreign Policy in Focus by Joseph Kaifala When it comes to saving Africa, there's no shortage of ideas in the West. Most committees organized in the West on African issues are often run by Africans who have been away from the continent for decades and have lost contact with reality on the ground. Ideas conceived in the West, such as the Millennium Development Goals and other HIV/AIDS initiatives, often encounter difficult challenges when implemented in Africa. This is because beneficiaries in individual African countries are sometimes not consulted about solutions to their problems and ideas are often implemented universally across the continent, ignoring the cultural, economic, and geographical diversity.The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), launched by President George W. Bush...
from NDTV by Mohuya ChaudhuriAt least 39 children have died in the last month of malaria and diarrhoea in a refugee camp in Tripura.The camp, where Reang tribals took shelter after being driven out from Mizoram has been around since 1997. Neither Mizoram nor Tripura wanted them. Since then they've been living in camps, which are meant to be temporary shelters.However, with no one willing to accept them, these temporary homes became permanent. Thirty five thousand Reangs are today living on the brink of starvation and living a life of absolute poverty.There's nothing available for them in the camp, no food, jobs or health care, except the shadow of starvation.At least, 19 women have died in one year alone and last month, 39 children, who were severely malnourished, lost their lives to...
from All Africa Instead of using mosqito nets to protect themselves from malaria, this group of fisherman use them to make a living. - KaleThe Monitor (Kampala)By Fred SimiyuLiving a day at a time and crossing the bridge when you reach it is all what seems to matter to most of the Mayuge residents, especially those living along the shores of lake Victoria, whose main means of survival is fishing.The residents much to the disappointment of the local authorities are using mosquito nets to catch fish. They also turn testse fly traps into garments. Mayuge is one of the districts that has been greatly affected by malaria and sleeping sickness.And this is the reason why Farming in Tsetse fly Controlled Areas, a non government organisation has for the past three years supplied chemically...
from All Africa An official from the WHO talks about the challenges in getting quick malaria diagnosis in Africa. - KaleBuaNews (Tshwane)The African continent is loosing up to $12 billion per year of its Gross Domestic Product in scaling up malaria intervention programs, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).WHO country representative, Olusegun Babaniyi said malaria remains a global threat to the attainment of social-economic targets, with three million and more cases and an estimated one million deaths annually.Dr Babaniyi was speaking on Monday at the official opening of the Eastern and Southern Africa Annual Review and Planning Malaria Meeting, themed "Improving Malaria Diagnosis".The theme of the meeting is timely, he said, adding that it serves as a reminder of the need...
from Science Centric A medical journal publishes a study on the MDG to fight malaria. The study cites lack of funding as a primary reason. - KaleThe Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria globally is unlikely to be met, according to Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow Professor Bob Snow. The statement comes in a report published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.The eight MDGs were established by the United Nations in 2000 with a view to tackling global poverty and health inequality. Goal 6 included the target to 'halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.'Malaria is one of the world's biggest killers, killing over a million people every year, mainly children and pregnant women in Africa and...
from IPP Media A study course is being offered for free on the internet for African health researchers. - Kale By Patrick KisemboThe African Malaria Network Trust (Amanet) has launched a series of free web-based courses to strengthen the capacity of African health researchers and scientists in Health Research Ethics (HRE) and Good Clinical Practice (GCP).Speaking at the launch yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Amanet managing trustee Prof Wen Kilama said demand for the courses had surpassed supply despite numerous training workshops.With over one thousand beneficiaries, he said launching of the series of courses not only addressed the gap, but underscored his pan-African organisation`s desire to safeguard the well-being of African health research participants.``But we also need to reach out to...
from the Med Guru, India Nearly 3 million people die from malaria each year. A study is reported in this article that shows that there mey be some side effect to malaria drugs. - KaleSome commonly used malaria drugs may boost up the risk of resistance to a widely used class of antibiotics, despite never having taken the drugs before, a new Canadian study unfolds.Rectal swabs from more than 500 villagers were checked for the bacteria, including those for E.coli and Salmonella.Despite clear indications that these people have had no previous contact with such class of antibioticdefine drugs, researchers found that 4.8 percent of the people monitored had high resistance to Ciprofloxacin - an antibiotic from the fluoroquinolones family, which is chemically related to chloroquine, compared to...
from the Globe and Mail The practice of geophagy, widespread among pregnant women, can be harmful to the mother as well as the fetusby KIM BARRY BRUNHUBERMAKENI, SIERRA LEONE -- Aisha Jalloh takes one of the hard, smooth balls of clay and rolls it in her hand. It looks like a fossilized dinosaur egg."I know it is bad but I wanted to sustain the baby, so I eat it," she says, looking at her newborn daughter. While she was pregnant she would eat between 10 and 15 balls of clay each day. Sometimes she roasted them, sometimes she ate them plain. The old women in her community told her the clay would make her baby strong and remove "bad water" from her stomach."When I ate it, the vomiting stopped," she says. She understands the idea of gnawing on a rock-hard piece of clay may seem bizarre,...
from Radio Netherlands by an RNW reporterAccording to the World Health Organisation, malaria and AIDS are the two most devastating global health problems of our time. Together they cause more than four million deaths a year. They are both diseases of poverty and both of them cause poverty. However, according to Professor Willem Takken, one of the pre-eminent malaria specialists in the Netherlands, the overall effect of malaria is greater than that of AIDS. This is chiefly because HIV/AIDS has also hit the western world, so there has been a stronger push to come up with successful treatments for the disease, which is not the case for malaria. Professor Takken explains:"There are five to six million people who get malaria every year. A million die from it every year, but for those who...
from All Africa Daily Trust (Abuja)By Abubakar YakubuThe economic value of a plant called Cactus Opuntia (Ficus indica) was over the weekend in Abuja disclosed by Professor IK Aduba, who said it can fight the scourge of malaria as well as combat desertification, alleviate poverty, hunger and enhance better livelihood for man and livestock.The professor also called on frontline buffer states of Nigeria to combat desertification and global warming through the plant."From the numerous pads being produced by this plant, the sap from the pads was used in 1911 by an American, Luther Burbank in Central Africa to smother the mosquito larvae found in exposed stagnant water bodies and environment," he statedHe said the effect lasted for 12 months, adding that the research report can be expanded...
from the Voice of AmericaBy Lisa SchleinScientists say progress is being made in developing faster, more affordable methods of detecting poverty-related diseases. A leading Swiss non-profit group, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, says it has made significant advances in creating better diagnostic tools for Tuberculosis, Sleeping Sickness and Malaria. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.Millions of sick people in the developing world are unable to get the treatment they need because the illnesses they suffer from are not properly diagnosed and identified.The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics has been working for the past five years on developing new tools to improve the quality of diagnosis to better fight poverty-related diseases. Its focus has been on three...
from the Independent For Western travellers to malarial parts of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and south America, the parasite holds few terrors. Dose yourself with the right prophylactic drug – Malarone is the current gold standard for areas where there is drug resistance – douse yourself with insect repellent and you are unlikely to fall victim to the lethal disease.The indigenous population has fewer choices. Prophylactic drugs, at about £2 a day for Malarone, are beyond their reach. Bed nets, impregnated with insecticide, offer effective protection at minimal cost and millions have been distributed by charities. But most people in the affected countries accept malaria as an illness to be endured, suffering regular attacks.The usual response to a fever was to reach...
from All Africa Until recently malaria was only known as the leadingkiller disease in Uganda and sub-Saharan Africa. Butstudies from the Ministry of Health indicate the disease is also the leading cause of poverty.This is because it has serious impact on the economic, social and cultural aspects of society.A study carried out in 2002 in Uganda identified ill health as the most frequent cause of poverty. The study showed that a poor malaria-stricken family might spend up to 25 per cent of its income on malaria treatment and prevention. There are also direct costs in form of treatment, treatment seeking and funeral expenses.IndustryMalaria leads to loss of household incomes through absenteeism from work. It is estimated that workers suffering from a malaria bout can be incapacitated for...
from the Boston Globe By Billy BakerDr. Joia Mukherjee really wants to be a singer. That, she has already decided, will be her second career, and she just has to finish her first career, this minor business of "getting all the world's HIV and poverty squared away," before she can get started in earnest."I brought a karaoke machine to Haiti last week," Mukherjee said recently in her office on Huntington Avenue, though her smile turns into a smirk when she notes that she never got to use it. She was too busy saving lives as the medical director for Partners in Health, a Boston-based organization dedicated to fighting poverty and healthcare inequality in impoverished countries.In one single hour in Haiti, she said, the organization saved the lives of five children who would have died of...
from Asahi Bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi, who researched yellow fever in Africa in the early Showa Era (1926-1989), was struck down by the disease and died there in 1928 at the age of 51. It is said his death was due to the fact the vaccine he made did not work. His last words are said to have been: "I don't understand." Although times have changed, I feel those words reflect the horror of infectious diseases.In commemoration of Noguchi's achievements, the government established the Noguchi Hideyo Africa Prize for medical research and health-care services related to Africa. The prize was presented for the first time Wednesday to coincide with the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama.One of the recipients of the prize, Dr. Brian Greenwood, is a...
All AfricaThe Times of Zambia (Ndola)NEWS20 May 2008Posted to the web 20 May 2008By Edward MulengaNdolaAPRIL 25, 2008 will obviously remain memorable to many Zambians. Livingstone, the tourist capital was honoured with hosting the inaugural World Malaria Day (WMD).The occasion witnessed by notable figures, including Malaria goodwill ambassadors, Princess Astrid of Belgium and famous South African musician, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, brought together several dignitories whose respective roles, spelt out what can be achieved through collective efforts.The Livingstone community was lifted up with the volume of activities undertaken prior to the day itself, which the residents described as an honour.Anti malaria expedition notable among the events preceding the commemoration was the Zambezi River...
On the back of last week's PLoS study which revealed the horrifying extent to which sub-standard anti-malarial drugs are being manufactured in Africa, friends of the CFD have had a number of articles in newspapers around the world discussing the issue.
In particular, these articles flag up the concern that the procurement policies of multilateral funding bodies such as the Global Fund actively encourage the production of these drugs.
In today's Sowetan, Africa Fighting Malaria's Jasson Urbach discusses steps that could be taken to address the problem, including removing market-distorting taxes and tariffs on imported medicines.
In the South China Morning Post, Roger Bate calls on the Global Fund to change its policies to stop these drugs being purchased in Africa.
And Jeremiah...
from IRIN Health experts say the majority of malaria cases in Mali are misdiagnosed, which causes resistance to malaria drugs and leaves other illnesses untreated.“When people are sick in Mali, the doctor will usually tell them they have malaria whether or not they test for it,” said Fatou Faye, an infectious diseases researcher and trainer at a privately funded medical laboratory, the Charles Merieux Centre in Bamako.“The patients then buy anti-malarial drugs in the street and build up a resistance to treatment.”As a result, according to research by Dr. Imelda Bates at the Malaria Knowledge Project (MKP), part of the Liverpool University School of Tropical Medicine, this means people miss other causes of feverish illness such as pneumonia and meningitis, which can cause further...
from the Dallas Morning News The grant was announced at the UMC's General Conference, underway in Fort Worth. Details below:United Methodists Receive $5 Million To Help End Child Malaria DeathsGrant Announced On World Malaria DayFORT WORTH: As it commemorates World Malaria Day, The United Methodist Church announced today it will receive a $5 million grant from the United Nations Foundation, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help eliminate malaria and other diseases of poverty.Bishop Thomas Bickerton revealed the grant at the United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body meeting in Fort Worth through May 2."We hope to use this $5 million to support a fundraising and educational campaign to help end deaths of children from malaria....
from Tropix via ReutersBy Katrina MansonMALLAY, Sierra Leone (Reuters) - A year ago Adama Jongo, a rice and cassava farmer in Sierra Leone, almost died from malaria while pregnant.Now, the 37-year old mother of seven has turned volunteer medic to fight the disease under a pioneering scheme to bring life-saving healthcare closer to rural communities.Malaria is the number one killer in Sierra Leone, a former British colony in West Africa ranked by the United Nations as the least developed country in the world.Under a pilot scheme run by aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Jongo has been given a tester kit and trained to care for the most vulnerable in her village, a collection of mud huts 200 km (124 miles) southeast of the capital Freetown.Instead of resorting to traditional medicine...
from the South Florida Times BY DENNIS PINTO In today's world, it's important to read between the headlines.For instance, if Kenya and its African neighbors received the same kind of mass media attention about its most profound problems as it has about its recent post-election troubles, then perhaps the continent could make some true headway in its battles against extreme poverty, chronic hunger and HIV/AIDS.But alas, it sometimes seems these critical issues, which are the root problems underlying the post-election incidents, are not newsworthy enough to make headlines.Indeed, Kenya's post-election riots are known by many newspaper readers, yet few know that an African child is orphaned by AIDS every 14 seconds. It has been well documented that 1,000 people have died in the two months...
from the BBCOn World Malaria Day, Chris and Xand Van Tulleken, working with the aid agency Merlin, highlight the devastating link between conflict and rates of malaria infection.When we were studying tropical medicine in London, a favourite trick of one professor was to ask students what we thought the deadliest animal in the world might be.One Ghanaian colleague suggested a lion riding on the back of an elephant, eating and trampling everything in sight.But the required answer was the humble mosquito - or more precisely, the anopheles mosquito, the carrier and transmitter of malaria, a disease which kills over one million people every year.This rather clever answer isn't entirely true.Anopheles mosquitoes are found in harmless abundance in many places on earth. Malaria, once widespread...
Over at The American, CFD contributor Dr Roger Bate has an interesting article for World Malaria Day.
While he notes that increased funding and coordination amongst global agencies has improved the quality of malaria treatment, there are still many companies going against WHO advice and selling artemisinin monotherapies in Africa. These monotherapies raise the risk of the malarial parasite developing drug resistance.
Meanwhile, the suppliers of high quality artemisinin combination therapies are having their lives made difficult by the WHO's insistence on forecasting 'need' rather than actual demand. WHO figures out how many people 'need' treatment in an ideal world, and these figures provide the basis upon which manufacturers produce the drugs.
The only problem is, 'need'...
from Eco WorldlyWritten by Sam Aola OokoOn April 25, 2008, designated the first World Malaria Day, 3,000 children or more in sub-Saharan Africa, majority of them under the age of five years, will die from malaria, one of the deadliest preventable diseases on the planet, global health data indicate.Malaria, the dreaded and life-threatening disease continues to kill between 1 million and 3 million people each year, many of them pregnant women in Africa.A two-month long 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) expedition on the Zambezi, one of Africa’s longest rivers, that begun on 29 March 2008 led by two adventurers, Helge Bendl, a journalist, and Andy Leemann, a boating enthusiast, partnering with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, covering six nations in southern Africa aims to put a spotlight...