Aliene Mitchel (left) and Enock Menelick of Diakonia Compassionate
Ministry from Kisumu mark World Malaria Day on April 25, 2013. FILE
PHOTO | JACOB OWITI | NATION
For the first time in more than a decade, global progress
against malaria has stalled, as evidenced in the latest World Health
Organisation (WHO) World Malaria Report, putting at risk decades of
investment.
Currently, malaria kills a child every two minutes — a trend we cannot allow to continue.
Whilst
there is no easy path to beating the disease, accelerating the pace of
research and innovation is key, after all, future progress is contingent
on new products and innovations.
Africa accounts for
91 per cent of the global malaria cases and 93 per cent of
malaria-related deaths, so it is a region in urgent need of innovations.
I
believe the upcoming Pan-African Multilateral Initiative on Malaria
(MIM) this month in Dakar, Senegal, is a real opportunity to shine a
spotlight on the disease and jump-start research and development
projects for the future.
Research capacity
Showcasing
the latest scientific breakthroughs coming out of the heavily burdened
continent, the conference gives scientists and researchers an
opportunity to collaborate and share ideas and their latest research
findings.
In fact, the inaugural MIM conference held 20
years ago, identified priority research areas for malaria which, over
the next decade, yielded the development of highly effective malaria
control tools — notably, long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, rapid
diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination therapies.
MIM
also has a mandate to develop a sustainable malaria research capacity
in Africa through international and Pan-African scientific partnerships
and training.
It is exactly this collaboration that we
at the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria, see as key
to the success of fighting the disease.
Researchers will present their findings on a range of topics, from drug resistance to vector control.
Malaria
is a very complex disease, but we have come a long way in understanding
the multifaceted approach needed to eliminate it and are on the cusp of
potentially life-saving discoveries, some of which may well come from
Africa.
The good news is that we have come a long way in understanding the multifaceted approach needed to eliminate it.
Take,
for instance, a Ugandan engineer who — after missing lectures due to
malaria — came up with a low-cost, reusable device that can test for the
disease quickly and accurately, without drawing blood, using magnets
and light beams.
Also, new ways of controlling the
mosquito population are constantly being developed, like the “gene
drive” that could one day alter mosquitos so that they cannot carry the
malaria parasite or reproduce.
Despite decades of research, there is currently no commercially available malaria vaccine.
RTS,S vaccine
This
year Ghana, Kenya and Malawi will pilot the new RTS,S vaccine, marking a
huge step forward in our efforts to end the disease for good.
It
is the first regulator-approved vaccine against the deadliest form of
human malaria P. falciparum, which will be offered for babies and
children in high-risk areas as part of real-life trials.
Meanwhile,
a new drug application for Tafenoquine, a radical single-dose
medication for the cure of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria in
patients 16 years of age and older, has been submitted to the US Food
and Drug Administration.
If approved, it would be the
first new medicine for the prevention of relapse of P. vivax malaria in
more than 60 years. These are potentially game-changing developments for
Africa in particular, and we need more African scientists and
researchers joining our collective search for innovative and adaptable
solutions in the fight against the disease.
But while
innovation is crucial in the long-term, increasing coverage of essential
lifesaving interventions and reaching those hard to reach communities
is crucial and remains one of our biggest challenges.
As
we mark World Malaria Day on April 25, we must persuade governments,
international organisations and the private sector to not only
accelerate the latest innovations but also scale up successful
prevention and treatment methods.
The combination of scientific interventions and political gravitas will be critical in the push to end malaria for good.
Dr Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho, is chair of the board of the Roll Back Malaria partnership.
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