Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

September issue of 'Global Fund News Flash' email newsletter available

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has published Issue 8 of its newsletter, the "Global Fund News Flash."

21 Sep 2012

MD Anderson introduces Moon Shots Program to reduce cancer deaths

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announces the launch of the Moon Shots Program, an unprecedented effort to dramatically accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances that reduce cancer deaths.

21 Sep 2012

Mosquitoes show signs of behavior change in response to bed net use, study says

About three years after two villages in Benin began using insecticide-treated bed nets to help prevent malaria, mosquitoes in the area changed their biting habits, so their "hours of 'peak aggression' [went] from 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. to around 5 a.m." and "in one village, the proportion of mosquito bites inflicted outdoors rose," according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Reuters reports.

21 Sep 2012

First phase of Global Fund-managed AMFm shows success in bringing malaria drugs to clinics

The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm) -- an innovative financing mechanism that subsidizes the cost of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) in order to expand access to the most effective treatment for malaria -- "brought more than 100 million doses of malaria drugs to clinics and pharmacies in 2011" and "also increased access to the top malaria medicines by 26 to 52 percent in six countries."

21 Sep 2012

Study finds nearly 50% decline in child mortality in Niger over the last decade

A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Niger Countdown Case Study Working Group found that child mortality in Niger-one of the world's poorest countries-declined nearly 50 percent over the last decade.

21 Sep 2012

Health experts warn of linkages between climate change, increased malnutrition

"Malnutrition is likely to be the most serious health threat linked to climate shifts in the coming decades, as farmers struggle to cope with more unpredictable weather, ... epidemiologist Kris Ebi warned during a recent World Health Organization (WHO) briefing on adapting health systems to climate shifts," AlertNet reports.

20 Sep 2012

Blog examines role of community health workers in Zambia's malaria control efforts

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Laura Newman, a senior communications officer of the Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa, examines the role of community health workers in "Zambia's three-step plan to establish large malaria-free zones in the country by 2015."

20 Sep 2012

Bill Gates describes how 'catalytic philanthropy' can help bring vaccines, medicines to untouched markets

In an essay adapted for Forbes magazine from a speech given at the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy in June, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discusses how "innovations for the poor suffer from ... market limitations" and his idea of "catalytic philanthropy." Gates writes, "The market is not going to place huge bets on research when there are no buyers for a breakthrough. This explains why we have no vaccine for malaria today, even though a million people die from it every year."

20 Sep 2012

Global health funding cuts threatening fight against HIV, TB in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, NGO report says

The fight against HIV and tuberculosis (TB) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is being threatened by cuts in global health funding, according to "a report [.pdf] by leading European non-governmental health organizations," Reuters reports.

20 Sep 2012

Improved health critical to development of democracy in Burma

In this post in the Huffington Post Blog, Deborah Derrick, president of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, examines the role of health efforts in the rebuilding of Burma, also known as Myanmar.

19 Sep 2012

Hereditary blood disorder found in South-East Asia, South-West Pacific could offer clues for malaria vaccine

"A team of international scientists has found that a type of hereditary disorder in some communities in South-East Asia and the South-West Pacific protects its sufferers from malaria, a finding that could drive future vaccine design," SciDev.Net reports.

19 Sep 2012

New development goals should acknowledge health, education, aid, but focus on economic reform

Noting the 67th session of the U.N. General Assembly begins on September 25, Charles Kenny, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation, writes in his Bloomberg Businessweek blog, "Small World," "Accompanying the usual podium speeches will be the start of backroom discussions as to what will replace the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs], a set of targets for global progress agreed to at the 2000 General Assembly meetings."

17 Sep 2012

Mobile phone text messaging service allows health workers to track malaria cases in Cambodia

A new pilot project in Cambodia is allowing more than 3,000 volunteer health workers to use a special mobile phone text messaging service to report new cases of malaria, in addition to providing no-cost testing and treatment "in remote parts of the impoverished nation, where access to health services can be difficult," Agence France-Presse reports.

17 Sep 2012

Global Fund Board adopts new approach to funding grants

According to a press release from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the fund's Board on Friday "voted to adopt a new approach to funding grants that will enable the organization to invest the world's money more strategically and for greater impact."

17 Sep 2012

Bed nets and insecticides could fail to protect people from new malaria-transmitting mosquitoes

A potentially dangerous new malaria-transmitting mosquito has been discovered in Kenya by scientists from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. This species, which has never been implicated in the transmission of malaria before, poses a threat because it bites humans at times when they are not protected by current malaria control techniques.

17 Sep 2012

Global Fund board members discuss new funding allocation model amid some concerns from TB advocates

The board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria began a two-day meeting in Geneva on Thursday, "with one topic high on the agenda: a new funding model," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports.

15 Sep 2012

Progress on child survival rate since 2000

The pace of reducing child deaths has accelerated sharply since 2000, according to new data released by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the UN Population Division.

14 Sep 2012

IU chemists develop fully synthetic artemisinin to help reduce cost of live-saving drugs

In 2010 malaria caused an estimated 665,000 deaths, mostly among African children. Now, chemists at Indiana University have developed a new synthesis for the world's most useful antimalarial drug, artemisinin, giving hope that fully synthetic artemisinin might help reduce the cost of the live-saving drug in the future.

14 Sep 2012

Examining effects of reduced AIDS funding for Ethiopia

Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Kate McQueston, a program coordinator at CGD, write in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog that a reduction in AIDS funding to Ethiopia from PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria "might be warranted due to epidemiological trends and improved efficiency, or might cripple progress as health programs dependent on external donors are cut back."

13 Sep 2012

Synthetic biology pioneer wins 2012 Heinz Award

Jay Keasling, a leading authority and pioneer on synthetic biology who has engineered microbial "factories" to manufacture an affordable version of a frontline antimalarial drug and biofuel substitutes for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, has won a 2012 Heinz Award, which is presented by the Heinz Family Foundation and carries with it a cash prize of $250,000.

13 Sep 2012

Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

September issue of 'Global Fund News Flash' email newsletter available

MD Anderson introduces Moon Shots Program to reduce cancer deaths

Mosquitoes show signs of behavior change in response to bed net use, study says

First phase of Global Fund-managed AMFm shows success in bringing malaria drugs to clinics

Study finds nearly 50% decline in child mortality in Niger over the last decade

Health experts warn of linkages between climate change, increased malnutrition

Blog examines role of community health workers in Zambia's malaria control efforts

Bill Gates describes how 'catalytic philanthropy' can help bring vaccines, medicines to untouched markets

Global health funding cuts threatening fight against HIV, TB in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, NGO report says

Improved health critical to development of democracy in Burma

Hereditary blood disorder found in South-East Asia, South-West Pacific could offer clues for malaria vaccine

New development goals should acknowledge health, education, aid, but focus on economic reform

Mobile phone text messaging service allows health workers to track malaria cases in Cambodia

Global Fund Board adopts new approach to funding grants

Bed nets and insecticides could fail to protect people from new malaria-transmitting mosquitoes

Global Fund board members discuss new funding allocation model amid some concerns from TB advocates

Progress on child survival rate since 2000

IU chemists develop fully synthetic artemisinin to help reduce cost of live-saving drugs

Examining effects of reduced AIDS funding for Ethiopia

Synthetic biology pioneer wins 2012 Heinz Award

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

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