Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

Differing opinions about AMFm 'unlikely to be resolved' after Global Fund decision on program's future

In her "Global Health Blog," Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley examines the Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm), "which aims to enable countries to increase the provision of affordable artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) through not only the public sector but also the private sector and [non-governmental organizations (NGOs)]."

26 Oct 2012

Researchers identify new means to eradicate malaria infections

Researchers have identified a new means to eradicate malaria infections by rapidly killing the blood-borne Plasmodium parasites that cause the disease.

26 Oct 2012

Communicable diseases responsible for majority of deaths in Africa, WHO official says

Speaking on Monday in Luanda, Angola, at the opening session of the inaugural meeting on Medical Education, sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine of Agostinho Neto University, WHO Regional Director for Africa Luis Gomes Sambo said communicable diseases account for 63 percent of deaths in Africa, with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) responsible for the majority of those, the Angola Press reports.

25 Oct 2012

Oxfam says 'no evidence' AMFm has saved lives; Global Fund says claims are 'untrue,' Guardian reports

Noting "the U.K. government has contributed £70 million [$112 million] to the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm)," the Guardian reports, "The charity Oxfam has cast doubt on the international scheme that aims to boost the provision of the most effective treatment for malaria."

25 Oct 2012

New method of testing for West Nile virus

While the United States has largely been spared the scourge of mosquito-borne diseases endemic to the developing world-including yellow fever, malaria and dengue fever-mosquito-related illnesses in the US are on the rise. One pathogen of increasing concern in the U.S. is an arbovirus known as West Nile.

24 Oct 2012

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Thursday published Issue 199 of its "Global Fund Observer."

20 Oct 2012

Researchers identify how mosquito's immune system attacks specific infections

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have determined a new mechanism by which the mosquitoes' immune system can respond with specificity to infections with various pathogens, including the parasite that causes malaria in humans, using one single gene.

20 Oct 2012

TB Alliance and FIND partner to promote development of TB drugs and diagnostics

A new partnership announced today will increase efforts to coordinate the development of complementary novel tools to fight TB, including drug-resistant TB, and identify emerging drug resistance trends around the globe.

19 Oct 2012

Scientists report on development of new malaria drug

Scientists are reporting development of a new malaria drug that, in laboratory tests, has been twice as effective as the best current medicine against this global scourge and may fight off the disease with one dose, instead of the multiple doses that people often fail to take.

18 Oct 2012

Global Fund invites Myanmar to apply for additional funding

"Health workers in Myanmar are confident that efforts to narrow the country's huge gap between access to, and need for, life-saving medicines to treat HIV/AIDS are back on track after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria invited the country to apply for additional funding," IRIN reports.

17 Oct 2012

Researchers use cell phone data to track malaria spread in Kenya

"Harvard researchers found they could track the spread of malaria in Kenya using phone calls and text messages from 15 million mobile phones," ABC News' "Medical Unit" reports.

16 Oct 2012

New initiative aims to bolster human resources at medical schools in Rwanda

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby is "expected to announce a new initiative between the U.S. government, the Rwandan Ministry of Health and 14 American medical schools at a press conference Monday in Kigali, Rwanda," the New York Times reports.

16 Oct 2012

U.N. report shows francophone African countries lag behind in AIDS Treatment; NGOs call for increased funding

"Despite great progress within a short time, the 29 French-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa are lagging far behind other states in the region in the battle against HIV/AIDS and need a massive increase in international aid, according to a United Nations report" released Friday, the U.N. News Centre reports.

16 Oct 2012

GAPPS announces five new projects for prevention of preterm births

Five innovative research projects aiming to prevent premature birth were announced today by the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS), an initiative of Seattle Children's.

16 Oct 2012

International cooperation essential to help Uganda fight malaria

Uganda "has overcome a violent past, but hope is daily threatened by a force more deadly than any warlord or civil unrest": the mosquito, Ugandan Health Minister Christine Ondoa writes in a GlobalPost opinion piece. According to the WHO, "Uganda has the highest incidence of malaria in the world," and the disease is endemic in more than 95 percent of the country, she notes.

15 Oct 2012

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Monday published Issue 198 of its "Global Fund Observer."

15 Oct 2012

GlaxoSmithKline to make clinical trial data available to other researchers

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) CEO Andrew Witty "said on Thursday detailed data from its clinical trials would be made available to other researchers," Reuters reports, adding, "That would include anonymized patient-level results that sit behind clinical trials of approved and failed drugs."

15 Oct 2012

S. African National AIDS Council CEO speaks to PlusNews about reform, funding

Fareed Abdullah, CEO of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), who took office in July, spoke with PlusNews regarding the body's reform, the revival of provincial AIDS councils, resource mobilization, and the appointment of a new board that allows SANAC to operate independently.

15 Oct 2012

Global Fund, Churches Health Association of Zambia sign grant agreement worth $102M

"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed a grant agreement worth $102 million with the Churches Health Association of Zambia [CHAZ] Wednesday," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports.

13 Oct 2012

Mexican government, NGOs working to expand access to clean syringes to prevent HIV among IDUs

Inter Press Service examines how Mexico's government and non-governmental organizations are working to stem the spread of HIV among people who use injection drugs. "According to a project financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria since 2011, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mexico is 5.77 percent among intravenous drug users ... compared to 0.24 to 0.3 percent in the general population aged 15 to 49," IPS writes, noting HIV prevalence among drug users is highest in "northern Mexico, one of the areas in the country hit hardest by drug trafficking."

13 Oct 2012