malaria no more Archives

December 30, 2010January 3, 2013

The fight against HIV/AIDS needs a pragmatic approach (update)

K. Amponsah-Manager

On December 14 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN agency which over ten years ago started a campaign to cut the number of malaria cases and deaths in half by 2010, reported that Malaria is fast declining in countries where it had been endemic. The report was surprisingly optimistic that we could have a malaria-free world by 2015!

The progress on the malaria front did not come by wishful thinking; it was the result of pragmatic efforts on the part of governments and various organizations. In the past three years alone, 578 million people at risk of malaria have been provided with insecticide-treated mosquito nets. Another 75 million have benefited from indoor residual spraying, the report said.

While such a report gladdens our hearts, it should also remind us of the twin brother HIV/AIDS.

Significant efforts have been expended in combating the spread of HIV with some results to show already. However, it is believed that what has been achieved is minimal compared to what is possible if the energy already spent was used to do the right thing most of the time.

There is the popular notion that HIV is caused by people doing stupid things, and some even think it is a curse for our disobedience of natural laws. Surely, there are some who are living with the virus as a result of doing stupid things, but that is just part of the story. In any case, such perception does nothing to save the millions who continue to contract the virus each year. Some of them are our brothers, sisters, uncles, and our teachers.

Rather than perpetuating the stigma associated with AIDS, I will suggest it is time we spend that energy to discuss how to curtail the rate of spread of the killer and save lives of mothers, fathers, and infants, some of whom have to live with the parasite for no fault of theirs.

There are practical ways that work and those are what we need to focus on. I’ll mention only two here for the sake of space.

Case 1: Sharing needles by drug users: The consequences of the use of illicit drugs on the health of our citizens and the effect it has on our economies and health care system are well known. The practice can therefore never be condoned or encouraged

But the reality is that people will continue to abuse drugs. Several studies have established that the sharing of needles by drug users is a significant avenue for contracting the HIV.

The approach here has to be two fold. The first is a continued education on the consequences of sharing needles which I believe is already well known. The second I think should be an effort on the parts of governments and foundations to consider providing accessible avenues by which the addicts can obtain clean needled when the lust for the substance is uncontrollable. They will continue to use the drugs anyway, but why should we look on while such acts continue to overburden the already stressed health and economic structures and continue to add to the AIDS statistics.

Case 2: Laboratory and epidemiologic studies have shown that even though condoms are not 100% HIV/AIDS-proof, the use of condoms in sexual intercourse reduces the risks of HIV infection significantly. We would wish that people will abstain from sex until they’re in a committed relationship, but the reality is that this approach will not work for all. The truth is that HIV is acquired by having unprotected sex with someone carrying the virus, and not just by having sex.

The massive campaign to encourage the provision and use of mosquito nets is yielding results with the possibility that we could have a world without malaria in less than a decade. It’s time to do same for AIDS.

The campaign to encourage people to stay away from sex until marriage or until they’re in a committed relationship should continue. However, this weapon will work for only a fraction of the population. It is time to be practical and tell people in a plain language that if you cannot abstain, then they should simply cover it.

Even though, it may be appear rather radical, I may suggest that Governments, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and foundations working on HIV/AIDS in Africa should consider making condoms (both male and female condoms) available for free to prostitutes (at least, until a solution is found to the problem of prostitution).

Given the choice, I’ll rather opt to use our scarce national resources to do that which will produce tangible and measurable results.

To the toddler taking care of a sick single HIV/AIDS parent, the issue here is not just statistics, it is life.

Let us learn from the anti-malaria campaign.

(To learn more on Condoms and HIV, click here)

December 27, 2010January 19, 2011

African governments urged to allocate more resources to fight malaria

The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), an advocacy network of scientists and journalists, has urged African governments and policy makers to allocate more resources to the prevention and control of malaria.

“The success of various malaria initiatives depend on political will, dedication of health workers, and above all, the willingness of the individual to seek prompt treatment and use the available tools to prevent or treat the disease,” it said.

A statement issued in Accra on Friday and signed by Madam Charity Binka, Executive Secretary of AMMREN, noted that by the time the Christmas festive period was over, 21,000 children worldwide would be killed by malaria, majority of them from the African continent.

It said as families got together for the festive occasion, it was also important that they spared a moment and reflected on malaria, a disease that can be prevented and treated yet continues to kill unnecessarily.

The statement said 10 years ago in Abuja, African leaders promised to halve malaria mortality as well as agreed that at least 60 per cent of those suffering from the disease would have prompt access to, and were able to correctly use, affordable and appropriate treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.

The leaders also said at least 60 per cent of those at risk of malaria, particularly children under five years and pregnant women would benefit from the most suitable combination of personal and community protective measures such as insecticide treated mosquito nets.

However, the statement said: “A whole decade has passed, yet we are nowhere near achieving the targets set.”

It also observed that some countries have taken up the challenge to introduce some policies that are yielding results such as the launching of a nationwide distribution of mosquito nets.

The statement said there was the urgent need to step up education on malaria prevention and treatment to end the needless deaths and loss of man hours that are affecting productivity.

AMMREN, it said, was also calling on partners and stakeholders to keep up the pressure at this time where a lot of global effort had gone into helping Africa to deal with the scourge of malaria.

The good news, the statement said, was that the existing tools for malaria prevention and treatment such as Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), are reliable and can protect lives.

“What is needed now is the willingness of those afflicted by the disease to take action to push out malaria from Africa,” it said.

GNA

December 19, 2010January 19, 2011

Eradication of malaria is within reach, WHO reports

The World Health Organization, the UN agency which over ten years ago started a campaign to cut the number of malaria cases and deaths in half by 2010, reports that Malaria is fast declining in countries where it had been endemic.

Just five years ago, the anti-malaria campaign was in such poor shape that this news from the UN agency is surprising and gladdens the hearts of both researchers and residents of regions prone to malaria.

Even though experts agree that the campaign will fall short of meeting the goals it set over a decade ago, significant progress has been made over the past few years in distributing the means to prevent and treat malaria and in bringing down death rates in many countries.

As a result, malaria-related deaths have also fallen globally from 985,000 in 2000 to 781,000 in 2009, with most of the deaths registered in children under five. In short, the anti-malaria campaign efforts are saving around 204 000 lives per year right now over the baseline in 2000.

In Uganda, for instance, the report shows that the number of households owning at least one insecticide-treated mosquito net has increased over the last two years from 42 to 47 per cent.

Over the past three to four years, millions of insecticide-treated bed nets have been delivered to sub-Saharan Africa. The number of people whose houses were protected by insecticide spraying jumped to 75 million in 2009, protecting another 10 percent of the population at risk.

The most encouraging news is that experts say that with continued effort, the number of malaria deaths could be halved by the end of 2011 and practically eliminated by 2015.

We posted an article here on November ^7th 2010 with the title ‘Eradicating malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa, Yes We Can’

How ‘prophetic’ we were.

We actually can.

December 7, 2010January 6, 2011

Malian officials in trouble: Global Fund suspends malaria

While global campaigns are gathering momentum to raise funds for malaria research and prevention, Malian officials have their own plan. Read on.

(AP)

BAMAKO, Mali — The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said Tuesday that $4 million meant to fight disease in Mali has been misappropriated, prompting them to halt three grants.

The announcement came two days after Malian Health Minister Oumar Ibrahima Toure resigned without explanation on Sunday.

The Global Fund said Tuesday that Malian officials have arrested 15 people suspected of committing fraud; those include several senior health ministry officials.

The international fund said in a statement Tuesday that two malaria grants would be temporarily suspended and a tuberculosis grant would be terminated. Together the grants are worth $22.6 million. The fund has approved some $128 million in assistance for Mali since its creation in 2002. This has come in the form of eight grants – six of them administered by the government.

“The Global Fund tolerates no fraud, and we take public action to stop it, recover lost money and establish new and trustworthy channels for resources so they can reach those in need,” said Michel Kazatchkine, the fund’s executive director

Toure, the health minister, did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, nor did Malian government officials. But he had faced several public calls to step down over the Global Fund investigation, and Mali‘s president Amadou Toumani Toure vowed earlier to seek those responsible.

“Whenever someone is accused of wrongdoing, we will do what’s needed so that justice is done,” the president said Saturday. “We must not condemn people too quickly, however. It’s my desire that everyone arrested in connection with this affair has the chance to defend themselves, protect themselves and possibly prove their innocence.”

The fund said the $4 million appeared to have been skimmed through false invoices, fake bid documents and overcharging for goods and services.

The grants provided anti-malarial bed nets, malaria drugs and tuberculosis treatment for prisoners, people in mining communities and patients with multidrug resistant TB.

The fund says the malaria grants will be transferred to another recipient in Mali and treatment will not be interrupted. The tuberculosis patients helped by the other grant will also continue to receive assistance, the fund said.

The poor, landlocked West African nation relies on international donors to fund its health system. In August another international body, the GAVI Alliance, which helps get vaccines to developing countries, also froze the funds it gives to Mali because of corruption fears.

November 30, 2010April 1, 2011

Why African women are saying YES to the female condom

Female condoms campaign

An estimated 22.5 million people are living with HIV in the part of African below the Sahara – around two thirds of the global total. The use of condom during sex is one of several preventive measures against HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, in most communities, it is difficult to get the men to use the condom.

Some of the excuses men give against the use of condoms are:

it is a sin to use condoms

For these reasons, some anti-HIV campaigns have shifted focus onto the women and educating them to protect themselves if the men will not. The female condom has become and alternative to an increasing number of women which they resort to anytime their partners refuse to use the male condom.

The female condom is a thin, soft loose-fitting polyurethane plastic pouch that is used during intercourse to prevent pregnancy and reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases. It has flexible rings at each end. Just before vaginal intercourse, it is inserted deep into the vagina. The ring at the closed end holds the pouch in the vagina. The ring at the open end stays outside the vaginal opening during intercourse. And during anal intercourse, it is inserted into the anus.

If women always use the female condom correctly only 5% of users will report unexpected pregnancy each year. It can even be made more effective if used with a spermicide

Warning: Most spermicides contain nonoxynol-9 which has certain risks. If it is used many times a day, or by people at risk for HIV, it may irritate tissue and increase the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

The major limitation of the female condom reported is the coverage of the external genitalia. This coverage had a particularly negative impact on the device’s aesthetics, and noise associated with use.

Again difficulties associated with insertion and removal, discomfort, messiness and inconvenience are easily reported issues.

With estimated 22.5 million people living with HIV in just the part of African below the Sahara, it’s highly welcomed that women are taking charge over their own health even if their male counterparts aren’t on board yet.

We hope our effort here contributes in some way to the campaign. Our hope is a world without HIV and Malaria.

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The penis is directed into the pouch through the ring at the end, which stays outside the vaginal during the intercourse. By covering the inside of the vagina or anus and keeping semen and pre-cum out, female condoms reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections.

The female condom was first made from polyuthrane. This version is officially called the FC FEMALE CONDOM. A newer version is made of nitrile rubber and called FC2. It is made from natural latex; the same material is used in male condoms.

The newer nitrile condoms are less likely to make potentially distracting crinkling noises. FC1 and FC2 are the only female condoms encouraged by the World Health Organization. They are sold under many brand names, including Reality Femidom, Dominique, Femy, My Femy, Protective and Care.

A target campaign to promote the female condom in some African communities is turning it into a mainstream women accessory; more and more now carries the female condom in their purse.

It is more acceptable to the men as it does not result in a significant decrease in sensation as with the male latex condom. Female condoms do not constrict the penis as do latex condoms. As a result, sensitivity of the male partner may not be substantially reduced.

it decreases pleasure or enjoyment of sex

it ruins the mood

I can’t feel anything when I’m wearing a condom

if a women loves me, then she you should just trust me

November 7, 2010January 24, 2011

Eradicating malaria in Sub-saharan Africa, Yes We Can

Malaria is a killer. About half a million people die annually from malaria, mostly children in sub-Saharan-Africa. In fact a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds.

Even though malaria has not yet received the attention it needs on the global stage, today wealthy foundations, companies, and some governments across the world are making malaria a priority. It was hoped that this momentum would continue for a while but, as we reported here last week, a series of papers published in a respected scientific journal, the Lancet, may put pressure on the breaks.

The team of researchers cast a gloomy cloud over any hope of eradicating malaria, at least in our lifetime. I need to admit that I have not yet read all the papers but their conclusion is clear: governments, donor agencies and foundations should now focus more on minimizing the prevalence of malaria and not on eradicating malaria. It is very easy to see how this could sap away the energy of organization like Malaria no More, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other organizations toiling to see the day when there will be no more malaria.

Anyone who doubts mankind’s ability to eradicate malaria may need to be reminded that the progress on malaria eradication in the US and Canada happened over a ‘relatively short time span’. In fact, it was not until the late 1890’s that scientists even learnt that the disease is caused by a parasite and that it is a mosquito that transmits the parasite from person to person. The assumption in those days was that malaria was caused by some ‘environmental dirt’. The word malaria actually comes from the Italian “mala aria”, meaning “bad air” because it was generally believed that malaria was caused by breathing in bad or foul air and vapors emanating from swamps marshy lands and latrines.

It is important to remember that, 70 to 80 years ago, Americans traveling to the eastern Tennessee valleys had the same fear they now have when traveling to Togo or Ivory Coast because of malaria. The story changed with the creation of the U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933 which established an organized malaria control program. At the time, malaria affected 30 percent of the population in the region where the TVA was incorporated. After implementing aggressive research and control operations, the disease was essentially eradicated in the TVA region by 1947.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta CDC was founded in 1946 to help control malaria. Within a few years of the campaign, malaria had been completely eradicated in the US.

The US did not win the battle over malaria overnight. Efforts to control malaria became national focus as far back as the early 20th century during the occupation American military in Cuba and the construction of the Panama Canal. It is recorded that malaria (and yellow fever) caused significant number of deaths among the workers of the canal. This triggered an aggressive program of malaria control which in 10 years had already made remarkable progress.

It is for these reasons that I have some concerns over the conclusions of the international team of researchers. Scientific possibility and budgetary recommendations perhaps should not be jammed together, especially when there is a huge regional disparity in the consequences of such recommendations.

Malaria can be defeated, albeit, not overnight. The funding available for anti-malaria campaigns, and research and development is tiny compared to the challenges. When the US announces a $10 billion annual budget for Africa it may appear too generous unless you know what we’re talking about. It is not Mali nor Zambia, but a continent of nearly 1 billion people.

We need to encourage non-governmental organizations, foundations and governments to keep on fighting. Efforts to minimize the prevalence of malaria should be encouraged but this cannot be an open-ended laissez faire attitude with no responsibility. There should be an aggressive program to eradicate the disease as it was done in the US and Canada.

Yes We Can