Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

Biologists discover how fruit flies can provide solutions to human pain, control insect-borne diseases

Studies of a protein that fruit flies use to sense heat and chemicals may someday provide solutions to human pain and the control of disease-spreading mosquitoes.

7 Dec 2011

Fake, poor-quality drugs boosting malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia, U.S. experts say

"Fake or poor quality malaria drugs are boosting resistance in parts of southeast Asia, a problem that is likely to worsen unless tighter regulations are adopted, U.S. experts said Monday" at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, Agence France-Presse reports.

7 Dec 2011

New global map shows difficult-to-treat malaria strain remains prevalent in Asia, Latin America

"Declining malaria deaths in Africa and progress toward an effective malaria vaccine are raising hopes the disease will soon be eradicated worldwide," but "researchers at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, [on Monday] unveiled a new global malaria map that raises new concerns about the disease," VOA News writes.

7 Dec 2011

Advancing the development of a malaria transmission-blocking vaccine

Three leaders in malaria vaccine development announced today a collaboration to evaluate a potential vaccine candidate designed to prevent transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans—a type of vaccine that researchers think could contribute to the eventual eradication of malaria.

6 Dec 2011

Fruit fly and malaria mosquito sensors attuned to heat, chemical odors

Fruit flies and mosquitoes share similar sensory receptors that allow them to distinguish among thousands of sensory cues - particularly heat and chemical odors - as they search for food or try to avoid danger, researchers from Boston College and Brandeis University report in the current electronic edition of the journal Nature.

6 Dec 2011

Bush launches Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon project in Zambia

"Zambian President Michael Sata on Friday told former U.S. president George W. Bush that the West should help fight the scourge of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa," Agence France-Presse reports, adding, "Bush is in Zambia on the second stop of a three-nation trip aimed at promoting efforts to fight diseases like cancer, AIDS and malaria."

6 Dec 2011

Fully funding global health initiatives critical in AIDS fight

"With donor support flagging around the world, U.S. leadership is crucial. Congress must fully fund its global health programs, especially the Global Fund" to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Joyce Kamwana, a Global Fund "HERE I AM" campaign ambassador, writes in The Hill's "Congress Blog."

6 Dec 2011

Reflecting on Bush's global health, foreign policy initiatives in Africa

In this Brookings Institution opinion, Mwangi Kimenyi, director of the Africa Growth Initiative (AGI), and Jessica Smith, a research assistant at AGI, reflect on George W. Bush's four-day tour of Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia, and the efforts he undertook in Africa while in office, writing, "Bush's record tends to be underrated."

6 Dec 2011

Cayetano Heredia, UT Southwestern sign five-year affiliation agreement

UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru have signed a five-year affiliation agreement that establishes an exchange program for medical students and related educational opportunities.

6 Dec 2011

Product Development Partnerships 'essential' in fight against global diseases

"If the momentum gained in the last few years" in fighting global diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, measles, and meningitis "is any indicator of our future trajectory, we are standing on the threshold of a revolutionary change in the state of global health," Wendy Taylor, senior adviser of Innovative Finance and Public Private Partnerships at USAID, and David Cook, executive vice president and COO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI),

3 Dec 2011

Brazil's ANVISA grants registration for child-adapted formulation of benznidazole for Chagas disease

Today, at the occasion of the 4th DNDi Partners' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr Carlos Gadelha, Secretary of Science, Technology and Strategic Products, Brazilian Ministry of Health, announced that Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) granted registration of a new paediatric dosage form of benznidazole, developed through a partnership between the Pernambuco State Pharmaceutical Laboratory (LAFEPE) of Brazil and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

3 Dec 2011

Opinion pieces, editorial recognize World AIDS Day

Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal and Ashley Grosso, Huffington Post's "Impact": Blumenthal, senior policy and medical adviser at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and Grosso, an Allan Rosenfield fellow at amfAR, outline steps they feel necessary to reach the goal of an AIDS-free generation.

3 Dec 2011

Multipronged approach needed to conquer malaria

"A malaria vaccine could be a powerful new tool," but "[c]ontrolling mosquitoes and diagnosing malaria remain essential. Among the highest priorities now is to develop new methods to do both," a Bloomberg editorial states.

3 Dec 2011

Opinion pieces address Global Fund's future after cancellation of Round 11 grants

The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria decided to cancel Round 11 grant approval during a two-day meeting in Accra, Ghana, that concluded on November 22, according to a Global Fund press release (11/23).

2 Dec 2011

U.S. global AIDS funding faces up to 10% cuts in fiscal 2012

As we approach World AIDS Day, life-saving funding is under attack from multiple fronts, and it couldn't come at a worse time. One of the world's biggest donors, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria canceled its next round of funding, because it couldn't secure enough donations.

2 Dec 2011

DNDi highlights lack of healthcare coverage for children with HIV/AIDS

Less than one-quarter (23%) of children with HIV/AIDS who need treatment are getting it, according to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the occasion of World AIDS Day.

2 Dec 2011

Opinion pieces, editorials recognize World AIDS Day

"This year we will hear that the first AIDS-free generation since the discovery of HIV may be a reality. But we are unlikely to hear what counts. As with every year, we are left more questions than answers," Barrett of Harm Reduction International writes before posing questions about the epidemic to several organizations.

2 Dec 2011

Mutation on surface of human red blood cells provides protection against vivax malaria

A mutation on the surface of human red blood cells provides protection against malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax, research led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine shows.

2 Dec 2011

Prioritizing HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment

In his ForeignPolicy.com column, Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation, writes that despite an "abundance of tools to fight the global AIDS epidemic," including male circumcision and treatment as prevention, "the breakthroughs don't amount to a global reprieve."

1 Dec 2011

Global Fund postpones Round 11 grants, approves new strategy and organization plan

The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria decided to postpone Round 11 grant approval during a two-day meeting in Accra, Ghana, that concluded on November 22. According to a press release from the Global Fund, the decision to postpone Round 11 was due to "a revised resource forecast presented to the Board which showed that substantial budget challenges in some donor countries, compounded by low interest rates, have significantly affected the resources available for new grant funding."

30 Nov 2011