Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

Proactive test-and-treat case-detection strategy can combat malaria

As researchers work to eliminate malaria worldwide, new strategies are needed to find and treat individuals who have malaria, but show no signs of the disease. The prevalence of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic malaria can be as high as 35 percent in populations with malaria and these asymptomatic individuals can serve as a reservoir for spreading malaria even in areas where disease transmission has declined.

7 Feb 2012

Closing the 'cancer divide' between developing and developed countries

Noting "there is a huge 'cancer divide' between rich and poor," with more than half of new cancer cases and almost two-thirds of all cancer deaths occurring in developing countries, this year's World Cancer Day theme, "Together It Is Possible," "calls on all individuals, organizations and governments to do their part to reduce premature deaths from cancers by 25 percent by 2025," Felicia Knaul, secretariat for the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries, and Jonathan Quick, president of Management Sciences for Health, write in a Huffington Post opinion piece.

7 Feb 2012

WHO disputes study's claims that global malaria deaths are double current estimates

The WHO has disputed a study published last week in the Lancet "that claims nearly twice as many people are dying of malaria than current estimates," VOA News reports.

7 Feb 2012

Dispute over malaria figures highlights lack of certainty in data in age of 'information overload'

In this post in TIME World's "Global Spin" blog, TIME's Africa bureau chief Alex Perry examines questions surrounding an Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) study published in the Lancet on Friday that suggests "malaria kills almost twice as many people a year as previously believed."

7 Feb 2012

Establishing clean water, sanitation in Liberia

In this Guardian analysis, journalist and author Rose George describes a recent trip to Liberia with the organization WaterAid, during which she discussed sanitation with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and visited two towns with the aim of learning more about their access to clean water and sanitation.

6 Feb 2012

CD74 molecule plays a guiding role in immune responses against diseases

University of British Columbia researchers have discovered the molecular pathway that enables receptors inside immune cells to find, and flag, fragments of pathogens trying to invade a host.

6 Feb 2012

Analysis looks at cost effectiveness of simultaneously confronting several diseases

The great paradox of global health efforts is that regions of the world most plagued by poverty, poor infrastructure and rampant disease are often the most difficult to support. Now, scientists have demonstrated that confronting several diseases at once can make the most of thinly-stretched donor dollars and national health care budgets, to help to save lives.

4 Feb 2012

Global malaria deaths twice as high as previously estimated, IHME study suggests

"Malaria is killing more people worldwide than previously thought, but the number of deaths has fallen rapidly as efforts to combat the disease have ramped up, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington" published in the Lancet on Thursday, an IHME press release reports.

4 Feb 2012

DRC facing decline in donor funding, HIV treatment shortage

"The lives of thousands of HIV-positive people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are at risk as the country faces declining donor funding and a severe shortage of HIV treatment, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)," PlusNews reports.

4 Feb 2012

Kenyan AIDS official says country has sufficient funding to support programs through 2016

Kenya has sufficient funds to support HIV/AIDS treatment programs through 2016, the head of the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) said in a statement on Wednesday after activists protested on Monday in support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Star reports.

4 Feb 2012

Link between health and schooling among fleeing children

Refugee children have scant access to medical care and are particularly vulnerable to disease. Fresh research results from the University of Copenhagen show that just a few hours of schooling a week may have a pronounced positive impact on their health not only in childhood but later in life when they achieve adulthood.

4 Feb 2012

Worldwide malaria death figures - a gross underestimate, finds latest research

According to latest research malaria kills twice as many people every year as formerly believed, taking 1.2 million lives and causing the deaths not only of babies but also older children and adults.

3 Feb 2012

Ensure future for Global Fund or 'forfeit' chance at 'AIDS-free generation'

"Beyond AIDS, the Global Fund is currently the largest donor in the world for tuberculosis and malaria programs. ... The question is not whether the Global Fund works, but how to ensure it keeps working for years to come."

3 Feb 2012

Media outlets examine Global Fund's future as it enters second decade

The Guardian examines the future of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as it enters its second decade, writing, "Despite its staggering successes -- including helping put 3.3 million people on AIDS treatment, 8.6 million on anti-tuberculosis treatment and providing 230 million insecticide-treated nets for the prevention of malaria -- the fund's recent troubles had threatened to overshadow its accomplishments as it prepared to mark a decade as the world's main financier of programs to fight these three global epidemics."

3 Feb 2012

Researchers identify fexinidazole as potential new therapy for visceral leishmaniasis

Researchers at the University of Dundee have identified fexinidazole as a possible, much-needed, new treatment for the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis.

3 Feb 2012

Version of 'Goldilocks' gene could determine future treatment for TB patients

'Goldilocks' gene could determine best treatment for TB patients Tuberculosis patients may receive treatments in the future according to what version they have of a single 'Goldilocks' gene, says an international research team from Oxford University, King's College London, Vietnam and the USA.

3 Feb 2012

Collapse of Global Fund would stall global health efforts

"The Global Fund's drive to ensure sustainability and efficiency means that it may not be able to meet its commitments to combat disease, says Laurie Garrett," a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, in Nature's "World View" column.

2 Feb 2012

All players involved with Global Fund must take responsibility for 'past failures,' future support

"The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria has proved to be one of the world's most important and innovative multilateral funding agencies," a Financial Times editorial states.

1 Feb 2012

New general manager's banking background beneficial at Global Fund

In this post on the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, a research fellow and director of global health policy at CGD, explains why the banking background of the new general manager of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Gabriel Jaramillo, "should serve him well."

1 Feb 2012

Opinion pieces recognize Global Fund anniversary

Last week, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria celebrated its 10-year anniversary. The following are summaries of two opinion pieces written in recognition of this milestone.

1 Feb 2012