Parsons Students have developed a mechanism to use social media to inform distributors of needs for medicine in remote locations. 

“One of the big problems in preventing and managing illness in Africa is the failure of governments to get medicines they have bought or received from outside agencies down to the village level.

In May of 2009, Oxfam and Health Action International (HAI) Africa convened 30 civil society organizations (CSOs) and policy-makers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to examine strategies for reducing stock-outs of medicines in Africa. Using Google Maps and SMS, the students were able to track 10 key medicines in four African countries.” 

This system is very similar to the SMS program that Zanibar uses to send in malaria results via cell phones to prevent possible outbreaks of the disease.  As technology continues to connect people at the local level, it is enouraging to see those connections help those most in need.

The Washington, D.C. metro area was hit by a hard snowstorm this past weekend.  The ensuing ’snowpocalypse’ shut down the city for the majority of the past weekend and public transportation is still digging out on Monday. 

While this snowstorm has been a major burden on the city and serious concern for the more vulnerable populations in D.C., I am thankful for cold winters in the sense that they provide some protection against mosquitoes and the diseases they carry, unlike in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the tropical climate encourages the breeding of mosquitoes and by extension malaria parasites.

Out of New Haven:

Yale University scientists have made recent discoveries that may lead to better mosquito repellants and traps, which could help combat deadly malaria cases worldwide.

The researchers said they have found more than 24 scent receptors in malaria-transmitting mosquitoes that detect compounds in human sweat. By identifying these olfactory receptors, the scientists say an opportunity opened to find new and more effective ways of repelling, confusing and attracting mosquitoes into traps.

The study is published in the Feburary issue of Nature. For more.

Reuters is reporting that there is some level of success in recent testing of a new malaria vaccine.

In a study of 100 West African children aged 1 to 6, the experimental vaccine produced immune responses similar to or even higher than those of adults infected by malaria all their lives.

The vaccine, which uses an immune system booster called an adjuvant from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L)(GSK.N), targets the malaria parasite as it is actively infecting red blood cells and causing fever and illness.

This so-called blood stage vaccine acts at a later stage in the malaria parasite’s life cycle than Glaxo’s experimental vaccine Mosquirix.

“What jumps out to me about this vaccine is the antibody response,” said Christopher Plowe of the University of Maryland in Baltimore and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator whose study appears in PLoS ONE, a journal of the Public Library of Science.

The new vaccine targets the malaria parasite after it has made its way though the bloodstream and into the liver, where it transforms into a new form called a merozoite, which can infect new red blood cells and cause fever and illness.

This is exciting news and we will stay tuned.

We are glancing at a new case study on the ability of social entrepreneurship to help create innovating and sustainable malaria diagnosis intervention tools.

“This paper seeks to provide a framework for applied research aimed to improve malaria diagnosis using a combination of the established methods, participatory action research and social entrepreneurship.

Methods: This case study introduces the idea of using the social entrepreneurship approach (SEA) to create innovative and sustainable applied health research outcomes. The following key elements define the SEA: (1) identifying a locally relevant research topic and plan, (2) recognizing the importance of international multi-disciplinary teams and the incorporation of local knowledge, (3) engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation and learning, (4) remaining motivated and determined to achieve sustainable long-term research outcomes and, (5) sharing and transferring ownership of the project with the international and local partner.EvaluationThe SEA approach has a strong emphasis on innovation lead by local stakeholders.”

For more read the study’s conclusion.

The Book of Odds has reminded us today that we must keep working towards greater awareness of malaria in Western nations no longer devastated by the disease. The article claims that malaria is “out of sight, out of mind” and while that is true, more and more Americans and others are aware of the fight against malaria and are working to end deaths from the disease in Africa.

Malaria infected thousands of Americans through the early 20th century, and was especially widespread in the South. When the Tennessee Valley Authority was created in 1933 to promote economic development in the South, the odds that a person living in the TVA region was affected by malaria were one in 3.33. Aggressive measures, including widespread spraying with a new insecticide called DDT, virtually wiped out the disease in TVA states by 1947. By the early 1950s malaria was considered to have been eradicated across the United States.

Today Americans are only at serious risk of catching malaria if they travel to places where it’s still endemic, like Africa or Latin America. Worldwide, 41 percent of the world’s population lives in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Oceania where malaria is present, and more than one million people die from the disease every year.

Malaria No More is striving to enhance awareness of the cause through innovative work. We will keep it up from an advocacy stand point as well.

A new report is out from Kalorama Information that suggests the market for a malaria vaccine could earn as much as $1 billion.

With increased attention on finding a cure for the scourge of malaria, recently highlighted by the announcement of a large research and development grant from the Bill Gates Foundation, and with several candidates already in the pipeline, there could be a $1 billion market for malaria vaccine products by 2017, according to healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information, which recently published a survey of emerging vaccine products titled: “What’s Next in Vaccines? HIV, Malaria, Rabies, MRSA, and 30 Other Vaccine Targets in the 2010-2020 Pipeline.” According to Kalorama, the potential market is likely to spur companies to develop innovative products for a disease that kills nearly two million people each year.

Certainly a successful vaccine would have an enormous market and be an important tool in the fight against malaria. Part of the report that is most interesting is the accounts of progress being made in the vaccine hunt.

Among the most advanced candidates is GlaxoSmithKline’s Mosquirix, which continues to be investigated in several large scale Phase III trials in Africa. Initial studies of the vaccine in children under 5 have shown that it can reduce infections by as much as 63%, though more often in the range of 50%, with effects persisting for at least one year. The results are not at the 80% level that most healthcare organizations are looking for, but Kalorama sees this drug as a first step. The company aims for a 2012 market approval. Netherlands-based Crucell is also developing a malaria vaccine and conducting Phase I studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee and Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. In addition, the University of Oxford, the U. S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA) and the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in India are among the institutions with malaria vaccine efforts underway.

We are hopeful for a day of a widely acceptable and effective vaccine that can be part of the prevention tools already in place.

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance met yesterday in Ethiopia during a meeting of the African Union. From the UN News Centre:

“Dozens of African leaders met today in Ethiopia to tackle the challenges facing the continent in the effort to meet the United Nations target of ensuring universal access to malaria control measures by the end of this year.

Some 26 heads of State convened the first working session of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) during the annual African Union (AU) summit, which got under way yesterday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

ALMA aims to defeat the disease, which accounts for over 25 per cent of all deaths of children under the age of five across Africa, affects over 50 million pregnant women and is responsible for 10 per cent of all maternal mortalities every year.

As much as 40 per cent of health-care spending in endemic countries goes on malaria, costing the continent around $12 billion a year, according to a press release issued by ALMA.

The 26-nation ALMA coalition said that in the past 12 months alone at least 90 million long-lasting, insecticidal mosquito nets were delivered in Africa, and overall 200 million such nets have been distributed to 400 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, where virtually all malaria deaths occur.”

For more click here.

Late yesterday Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria released a statement on President Obama’s 2011 budget request. Friends suggests that the requested dollars for the Global Fund are concerning saying that by cutting the U.S. donation we are miss opportunities to be more effective in the fight against disease.

“Particularly during this difficult financial time, Friends of the Global Fight welcomes President Obama’s investments in global health and thanks the Administration for recognizing the critical role of global health as part of its overall development strategy,” said Natasha Bilimoria, President of Friends of the Global Fight. “A key tactic of GHI’s strategy is to strengthen and leverage partners – including multilaterals such as the Global Fund – to reach its goals. The Global Fund currently anticipates receiving viable grant funding requests for FY2011, however, that will significantly exceed what the Administration’s budget request contains. Fully funding the Global Fund provides the U.S. with an important opportunity to leverage global efforts so that countries can continue to successfully lead their own fight against the three diseases and strengthen their health systems.”

The Global Fund is vitally important to efforts to end malaria in Africa and we will be watching the budget conversations closely to encourage adequate funding.

The Policy Center will be analyzing the budget proposal and releasing our take in the coming days.

As the numbers become public on the White House’s budget for 2011 we are seeing mixed reviews across the global health community.  The State Department unpacks the numbers for international programs but the key numbers indicate that anti malaria programs, under the President’s requests, will see a 16% increase of Fiscal Year 2010 at $680 million (USAID funding only.) The Global Fund however is cut by some $50 million compared to 2010 ($1 billion in the request for 2011.)

ONE has put out a statement outlining, and rightfully, concern over Global Fund reductions but welcomed overall increases in international affairs.  ONE has also established a “report card” on the budget covering a number of issues. On malaria, they rate the funding as “Good” but encourage more funding to actually end deaths from malaria by 2015.

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman, commented on the budget maintaining that global health diplomacy is well worth the investment.  ”The President’s budget request recognizes that fully protecting our national interests means more than military might; diplomacy and foreign assistance need resources, and together they account for just over one percent of the federal budget. In these tough economic times, it’s particularly important to invest in an ounce of prevention so that we won’t need a pound of cure.”

As Chairman Berman points out in his statement, the U.S. must fully fund a number of programs if we are to realize success in the fight against malaria. It remains vitally important that the U.S. continues to take a strong leadership role in funding of the Global Fund as we head into a critical replenishment cycle this year. ONE calls the reduction in the U.S. contribution “alarming.”

Overall the increase in malaria funding is a step in the right direction but with reductions in other programs may make it difficult to meet President Obama’s commitment to end malaria deaths by 2015. While the Global Health Initiative is an important pilot effort, we must work to ensure the  integrity of funding sources – malaria funding must continue to be used to support malaria goals.

We will continue to monitor the budget conversation as it moves from the White House to Capitol Hill.

The Policy Center will be analyzing the budget proposal and releasing our take in the coming days.