In the news
Below we highlight some of the latest international news on malaria.
2 April 2007 - Mosquitoes with 'selfish genes' may help fight malaria
Selfish genes are key to driving populations of mosquitoes resistant to malaria and dengue fever into wild populations, say researchers. scidev.net
19 March 2007 - GM mosquito ‘could fight malaria’
A genetically modified (GM) strain of malaria-resistant mosquito has been created that is better able to survive than disease-carrying insects. BBC News Online
9 January 2007 - Malaria parasite 'has many tools to infect humans'
New research into the genetic diversity of the most feared malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, indicates that making an effective malaria vaccine may be even more difficult than scientists had thought. scidev.net
2 January 2007 - Malaria Interaction Increases Prevalence of Both Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa
The interaction between HIV and malaria is increasing the prevalence of both diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study published in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Science, the Washington Post reports. Kaisernetwork.org
2 October 2006 - New discovery could be key in malaria treatment
Researchers believe that they have discovered a new treatment for the severest form of Malaria, which may be able to help in preventing the two million lives the disease claims each year. DrugResearcher.com
22 September 2006 - WHO gives indoor use of DDT a clean bill of health for controlling malaria
Nearly thirty years after phasing out the widespread use of indoor spraying with DDT and other insecticides to control malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that this intervention will once again play a major role in its efforts to fight the disease. WHO
22 September 2006 - Albumin in fluid treatment benefits malaria patients
Critically ill malaria patients given albumin in their resuscitation fluids are seen to benefit and it has helped reduce the mortality rates greatly, say scientists.dnaindia.com
22 September 2006 - Israeli researcher says mosquitos’ love of sugar could be key to eliminating malaria
Mosquitoes' thirst for sugar could prove to be the answer for eliminating malaria and other mosquito-transmitted diseases, says Hebrew University researcher Prof. Yosef Schlein in a study published in the American Science magazine and the International Journal for Parasitology. israel21c.com
15 September 2006 - WHO May Allow More DDT to Fight Malaria
The World Health Organization is poised to promote broader use of the pesticide DDT in the battle against malaria. lasvegassun.com
8 September 2006 - Malaria Infection in Pregnant Women More Complicated Than Previously Thought
Scientists have discovered that the way in which the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum infects pregnant women is more complicated than previously thought, a finding that could affect the development of a vaccine against the disease kaisernetwork.org
8 September 2006 - WHO To Update Malaria Control Guidelines To Endorse
Use of DDT
The World Health Organization plans to update its malaria control guidelines this summer to endorse the use of the pesticide DDT to control malaria, despite concerns over the adverse effects the chemical could have on the environment, according to a report published in the August issue of the journal Nature Medicine kaisernetwork.org
28 April 2006 - Global Fund backs new funding for deadly diseases
GENEVA (Reuters) - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria agreed on Friday to give millions of dollars in new grants, dispelling activists' fears that its support for the fight against the deadly diseases could dry up.
Reuters
28 April 2006 - Mosquito Isn't a Happy Host for Malaria, Tests Indicate
Many mosquitoes seem to kill naturally the malaria parasites they ingest, and it may be possible to exploit that genetic trait to fight malaria, according to a study being published today.
The New York Times
27 April 2006 - Bureau Distributes Mosquito-nets
The Benshangul-Gumuz State Health Bureau said 130,000 mosquito nets have been distributed for free to residents in the State with a view to preventing malaria.
The Ethiopian Herald
25 April 2006 - UN marks Africa Malaria Day by stressing need combination drugs, treated nets
The United Nations today marked Africa Malaria Day by highlighting the vital need to provide universal access to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) as quickly as possible on a continent where the mosquito-borne disease kills an estimated 1 million children below the age of five every year.
UN News Centre
25 April 2006 - AFRICA MALARIA DAY 2006
This year, like every year, the malaria community will commemorate Africa Malaria Day on 25 April to show solidarity with African countries battling against this scourge. This day has been set aside by African governments committed to rolling back malaria and endemic countries all over Africa will be raising their voices in unison. Many other parts of the world also suffer from malaria just like Africa: Thailand, the Amazon region, India, and Vietnam for instance. Africa Malaria Day is therefore an opportunity for ALL countries to reaffirm their commitment to reduce the burden of this disease.
This year's Africa Malaria Day will highlight the need to provide universal access to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and call for these treatments to reach those who need them as quickly as possible. Click here for more details www.rollbackmalaria.org
24 April 2006 - Africans dying because of malaria bottelnecks
Geneva 24 April 2006: Representatives of the African Union Permanent Delegation, African ambassadors and other Roll Back Malaria partners meeting in Geneva to commemorate Africa Malaria Day (25 April 2006), called for accelerated action to make sure that life-saving Artemisinin-based Combination Treatments (ACT) get to those who urgently need them - especially in Africa. With a child dying from malaria every 30 seconds, they urged the entire malaria community to support countries to roll out ACTs as quickly as possible.
OneWorld.net, UK
24 April 2006 - Africa Malaria Day – All partners in malaria fight urged to get their ‘ACT’ together - PDF Download
21 April 2006 - Malaria still kills needlessly in Africa - effective drugs are not reaching patients
Alarmingly few African patients with malaria are getting existing effective treatment that could cure them in a few days, says Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Four years after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global recommendation for countries to switch from old malaria treatments to artemisinin-based combination therapies, or ACTs, and two years after the Global Fund decided to fund ACTs, MSF teams are witnessing government-run health facilities still giving patients old malaria medicines instead of a treatment that works.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) – International
18 April 2006 - Breakthrough in search for new anti-malarial drugs
Scientists at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia have made a significant discovery in the fight against malaria. Drexel researchers, along with a research group at the University of Washington, have determined a critical molecular structure of the cellular motor that allows the malaria parasite to invade human cells.
news-medical.net
10 March 2006 - Super-Resistant Malaria Strains Likely Without Global Subsidies Of Critical New Therapies, According To New Study In Health Affairs
Subsidies for the costs of artemisinin combination treatments for malaria are needed immediately to prevent the emergence of a malaria superbug, finds a new study released today in the March/April issue of Health Affairs.
medicalnewstoday.com
9 March 2006 - Malaria develops in immune system
Malaria parasites develop in the lymph nodes of the immune system, researchers have discovered.
BBC News Online
23 January 2006 - Novartis accelerates production of life-saving malaria treatment Coartem®
Novartis Press Release
23 January 2006- Firms Are Asked to Stop One-Drug Malaria Therapy
The World Health Organization called on 17 pharmaceutical companies yesterday to stop selling the miracle drug artemisinin as a stand-alone therapy for malaria, saying the practice could leave the world with no effective weapon against the deadly infection within a decade. Washingtonpost.com
19 January 2006 - WHO calls for an immediate halt to provision of single-drug artemisinin malaria pills
The World Health Organization (WHO) today requested pharmaceutical companies to end the marketing and sale of “single-drug” artemisinin malaria medicines, in order to prevent malaria parasites from developing resistance to this drug.
WHO
11 January 2006 - Malaria health warning to Britons
Health experts have issued a warning about malaria, after four people from north-west England contracted the disease during holidays overseas.
BBC News Online
11 January 2006 - HIV infection and malaria – understanding the interactions
The natural history of interactions between infectious diseases can be challenging to accurately describe. These interactions can be somewhat straightforward, as is the case with HIV and mycobacterial infections, or circuitous at best, as is the case with HIV infection and malaria.
University of Chicago Press
11 January 2006 - Fighting malaria - the right way
The fight against malaria has scored a major victory. The U.S. Agency for International Development has elected to use nearly half of its budget to buy proven interventions against the disease, which affects 500 million people and kills more than a million children around the world each year. Washington Examiner
14 November 2005 - Gates Foundation commits $258.3 mn for malaria R&D with $100 mn for MMV
“For far too long, malaria has been a forgotten epidemic,” said Bill Gates, co-founder of the Gates Foundation. “It’s a disgrace that the world has allowed malaria deaths to double in the last 20 years, when so much more could be done to stop the disease.”
mmv.org
14 November 2005 - Malaria risk 'depends on house'
Living conditions may significantly increase a child's risk of malaria attacks, a study has suggested.
BBC News Online
14 November 2005 - New method to find deadly malaria parasite
Researchers at UCSD have discovered that the single-cell parasite responsible for an estimated 1 million deaths per year worldwide from malaria has protein "wiring" that differs markedly from the cellular circuitry of other higher organisms, a finding which could lead to the development of antimalarial drugs that exploit that difference.
News-Medical.Net
14 November 2005 - WHO To Push DDT Use In New Malaria Fight
The World Health Organization (WHO) Roll Back Malaria program will unveil a new malaria control strategy that clearly endorses the use of DDT to control mosquitoes, which carry the often deadly disease, reports Business Day (South Africa).
noticias.info
14 November 2005 - Malaria forum opens in Cameroon
The biggest international malaria conference has opened in Cameroon. Almost 2,000 researchers, health care workers and politicians have gathered to discuss the latest scientific findings on the disease.
BBC News Online
25 October 2005 - Malaria gene 'defends mosquitoes'
A gene may explain why mosquitoes do not develop malaria even though they carry the disease, say US scientists.
BBC News Online
14 October 2005 - Glowing insects to cut malaria
A protein that makes the sex glands and sperm of male mosquitoes glow could help reduce malaria infection rates, UK scientists say.
BBC News Online
14 October 2005 - Bring back DDT
Roger Bate and Richard Tren, the co-founders of Africa Fighting Malaria, recently presented the following testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. FrontPage Magazine has long exposed the fraudulent science behind the DDT ban and is pleased to reproduce their testimony here. FrontPageMag.com
4 October 2005 - Malaria deaths fear after low drug orders
Thousands of people could die unnecessarily from malaria in coming months following unexpectedly low orders for a pioneering drug.
FT.com
4 October 2005 -Improving healthcare in Africa
The latest issue of the British Medical Journal focuses on improving health in Africa, with malaria as one of the diseases targeted. As drug-resistant malaria increases across Africa, many countries have been prompted to adopt artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) as policy. However, the challenge is in getting these drugs to the people that need them. This and other related issues are discussed.
BMJ Journals
29 September 2005 - Can we end global poverty?
Hi. I’m John Cassidy from the New Yorker. This is Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia and many other places. My first job is to introduce Jeffrey. Just as a matter of interest—I mean, he doesn’t really need any introduction. Is there anybody in the room who doesn’t know of Jeffrey and his work?
Truthabouttrade.org
15 September 2005 - Mobilizing support to fight malaria in Africa
The World Bank is sponsoring a summit in Paris in a bid to secure more resources and better coordination in the fight against malaria in Africa.
World Bank
7 September 2005 - World Health Organization urges responsible use of antimalarial medicines
In a new report published today, “Susceptibility of Plasmodium Falciparum to Antimalarial Drugs,” the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that as more and more people gain access to these life-saving malaria medicines—which combine a drug derived from the plant Artemisia annua with a second, synthetic drug—it is vital that countries closely monitor their effectiveness.
WHO
7 September 2005 - Molecule May Be Key to Creating Human-Malaria Resistant Mosquito
Malaria is one of the world’s deadliest diseases, affecting millions of people each year and resulting in an estimated 1.5 million deaths annually. While malaria transmission has been eliminated within the United States, there has been an increase in malaria cases in recent years, due both to an increasing resistance to anti-malaria drugs and geographic expansion of mosquito populations.
UCSD News
7 September 2005 - WHO: Most Poor Countries Will Not Meet Health Development Goals
A new report by the World Health Organization finds the majority of poor countries will not sufficiently improve the health of their people by 2015, the target date set by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. This first WHO assessment comes less than a month before world leaders meet in New York to review progress made toward meeting those goals. The report shows progress is particularly slow in sub-Saharan Africa.
VOA News
7 September 2005 - WHO malaria figures 'flawed'
The way the World Health Organization gathers data on how malaria deaths does not represent the true scale of the problem, say experts.
BBC News Online
7 September 2005 - Mosquito buzzers' worth queried
Some insect repellents which use electronic buzzers to deter mosquitoes are ineffective, a consumer group says.
BBC News Online
7 September 2005 - Malaria drug gets recommendation
Malaria experts are changing their advice after a study showed a drug can save more lives than current therapy.
BBC News Online
23 August 2005 - Are you a mosquito magnet?
You're flipping burgers for the neighborhood barbecue, and the mosquitoes have already begun their feast -- on you. As you swat madly at the pests, you notice other folks seem completely unfazed. Could it be that mosquitoes prefer dining on some humans over others? This may clear up the mystery.
WebMDHealth
23 August 2005 - Malaria infection increases attractiveness of humans to mosquitoes
Do malaria parasites enhance the attractiveness of humans to the parasite's vector? As such manipulation would have important implications for the epidemiology of the disease, the question has been debated for many years. To investigate the issue in a semi-natural situation, we assayed the attractiveness of 12 groups of three western Kenyan children to the main African malaria vector, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Public library of science
23 August 2005 - Of herbs and old wives cures
Medical researchers are alarmed by the increasing use of home-made herbal derivatives of artemisinin to treat malaria.
Executives
5 July 2005 – Button Bono's lips
Resisting what the media-savvy radical environmentalists and rock stars are saying about foreign aid and international problems. USAID has spent $400 million on malaria control programs over the past 7 years and works with the Roll Back Malaria program but that there is "very, very little to show for their efforts and in many areas malaria cases are increasing, rather than decreasing."
Accuracy in Media
7 June 2005 – Forty three Groundbreaking research projects receive more than $436 Million in funding
The Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, a major effort to achieve scientific breakthroughs against diseases such as malaria that kill millions of people each year in the world's poorest countries, today offered 43 grants totaling $436.6 million for a broad range of innovative research projects involving scientists in 33 countries.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation News
13 June 2005– Antimalarial spending questioned
The United States' foreign aid agency is spending 95 percent of the money on consultants and less than 5 percent on mosquito nets, drugs and insecticide spraying to fight the disease.
International Herald Tribune
12 June 2005 – health experts warn over ‘dangerous' drug
BRITAIN's biggest drug company has been marketing a malaria treatment in Africa despite a leaked report from World Health Organisation (WHO) experts which warns that it could be dangerous to some users.
Times Online
9 June 2005 - Fungus 'may help malaria fight'
A common fungus could be the newest weapon in the fight against malaria, researchers have suggested.
BBC News Online
6 June 2005 - Taking Aim at Neglected Diseases - Big Pharma can do more to tackle the diseases of the developing world, even without a financial incentive By Paul Herrling.
The Scientist, Biobusiness
6 June 2005 - Malaria drug resistance warning
A tiny change could mean the malaria parasite becomes resistant to artemisinins, the newest drug weapon against the disease, researchers have claimed.
BBC News Online
6 June 2005 - Novartis boosts cultivation of anti-malarial plant
Novartis will ramp up cultivation of artemisia annua in Africa to meet spiraling demand for treatments of a disease which kills some one million people a year.
Reuters UK Know Now
5 June 2005
The Action in Malaria programme was awarded two prizes at the inaugural SABRE Awards ceremony. First, it won a Gold award in the Corporate Image category and then at the end of the ceremony, it took the Platinum Best in Show award - the top honour amongst nearly 1000 entries from 20 countries in 45 categories, beating the other 175 short-listed programmes and campaigns.
2 June 2005 - HIV/AIDS drugs may also be effective against malaria