PHA-Exchange> UN URGES DONOR COUNTRIES, DRUG FIRMS TO FUND ANTI-MALARIA FIGHT TO SAVE MILLIONS

[Claudio]

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel at undp.org>
> UN URGES DONOR COUNTRIES, DRUG FIRMS TO FUND ANTI-MALARIA FIGHT TO SAVE
MILLIONS
 With more than 600 million people, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa,
facing the daily threat of death from malaria since new
> treatments are unavailable where they live, the United Nations today
called on donor countries and pharmaceutical firms to provide
> the resources necessary to conquer new drug-resistant strains.
>
> "At least one million children die every year in Africa from malaria.
Several million more become seriously ill. In many places,
> they are still given medicines whose effectiveness is very low and
decreasing," the Director-General of the Geneva-based UN World
> Health Organization <"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/en/">(WHO), Lee
Jong-wook, said. "Better treatment is available and must be
> delivered urgently to the people who need it most."
>
> Adding her voice to the appeal ahead of Africa Malaria Day on April 25, UN
Children�s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Carol
> Bellamy said powerful new drugs can make the difference between life and
death for hundreds of millions. �If the private and
> public sectors work together effectively, we can quickly reshape the
marketplace for malaria drugs and take a great leap toward
> rolling back malaria,� she declared.
>
> The main challenge is that chloroquine, the least expensive and most
widely used anti-malarial drug, has lost its effectiveness in
> much of Africa. In recent years, a new more expensive treatment called
artemisinin-containing combination therapy (ACT) has
> emerged to fight the disease in those regions.
>
> Since 2001, WHO has strongly recommended that affected countries should
switch to ACTs, but at around $2 for an adult dose, this
> costs 10 to 20 times as much as chloroquine. For most countries in Africa,
external funding will be required.
>
> WHO estimates that global demand for ACTs will soar from about 20 million
per year at present to between 130 to 220 million adult
> treatments next year. In following years and at the current price, about
$1 billion per year will be required to provide 60 per
> cent of the affected population. Much of this money will have to come from
donor countries and funding institutions such as the
> Global Fund.
>
> Using its global supply network to play a lead role in the battle, UNICEF
called on pharmaceutical firms, too, to get behind the
> initiative.