Malaria
Overview
500 million people suffer from acute malaria every year, resulting in one million deaths. Most of these deaths are in children, and 90% of them are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Quotes from the literature
“We could do a lot of good in global health if a small fraction of the funds dedicated to the uncertainty of discovery [of new medicines for malaria] were invested in improving the use of existing medicines.”
White N 2010
“A significant proportion of this highland population [Kenya] chooses local shops for initial malaria treatment and receives inappropriate medication at these local shops, resulting in delay of effective treatment.”
Sumba PO et al 2008
“We know what to do in terms of treating patients for malaria… But we need to address the issues around more effective service delivery, getting the human resources there, more long-term sustainable financing, more evidence in terms of what makes the health systems perform.”
Anders Nordstrom, Director General, Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation, 2007
“Dispensers in private pharmacies in Dar es Salaam had poor knowledge in providing accurate information to patients on the dosage of the new antimalarials and likely side/adverse effects as well as instructions on how to take the medicines.”
Minzi & Haule 2008
References
Anders Nordstrom. In: A Call to Action: Ensuring Global Human Resources for Health, March 2008
