Kate Kelland | 02 Sep 2010 | Reuters
An experimental Novartis drug can clear malaria infection in mice with a single dose and scientists say it shows promise as a possible future treatment for one of the world's major killer diseases.
In a study published in the journal Science on Thursday, an international team of scientists said the drug, called NITD609, is effective against the two most common parasites responsible for malaria -- Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax -- and also against a range of drug-resistant strains.
In experiments on mice with malaria, the scientists found that NITD609 works in a different way from other antimalarial drugs and that one oral dose was enough to clear the disease.
More safety tests are needed before the drug can be given to humans, but the researchers said that if those are positive, clinical trials in humans could begin at the end of this year.
"A single-dose cure would go a long way to addressing the unmet medical need in malaria, and we look forward to seeing how this compound performs in clinical trials," said Rick Davis, of Britain's Wellcome Trust, which supported the research.
Collins Anampiu | 01 Sep 2010 | Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
The government through the ministry of public health and sanitation plans to reintroduce the use of DDT in fighting of malaria in the country to completely combat the killer disease.
Maria Cheng | 01 Sep 2010 | Associated Press
Millions of free malaria drugs are sent to Africa every year by international donors. New research is now providing evidence for what health workers have long suspected: some of the donated medication is being stolen and resold on commercial markets.
None | 26 Aug 2010 | Reuters
Police seized about 10 tonnes of counterfeit medicines and arrested 80 people in a sweep across eastern Africa, international police agency Interpol said on Thursday.
Marjorie Hecht | 24 Aug 2010 | 21st Century Science
The Excellent Powder is a mythdestroying book that needs to be widely read, and to be put in every library, especially school libraries, as a reference work. In fact, this political and scientific history of DDT should be required
reading in environmental science courses, to make sure that new green
recruits know the extent of the death toll that will result from the
continuing hysteria against DDT.
Maria Cheng | 20 Aug 2010 | Associated Press
For Africans wondering whether the malaria drugs they've bought are real, there may soon be a quick way of finding out: sending a text message. Across the continent, more than 30 percent of malaria medicines are estimated to be fake, and many look identical to the real thing.
Cyprian Musoke | 20 Aug 2010 | New Vision
While the National Medical Stores (NMS) cannot supply enough malaria drugs to meet the needs of Ugandans, it spends billions of shillings importing huge quantities of less needed drugs which end up expiring, the Auditor General's investigation has revealed.
Sarah Boseley | 17 Aug 2010 | guardian.co.uk
A few years ago any fever was treated as malaria because many children suffered from malaria and there was no simple diagnostic test. This situation has changed, thanks to advances in malaria prevention.
None | 17 Aug 2010 | US News and World Report
As part of the £1.5 million project, researchers are now testing the drug to determine how the treatment could progress to clinical trials. The drug is made from simple organic molecules and will be cheaper to mass produce compared to existing therapies.
None | 16 Aug 2010 | Business Daily (Nairobi)
The Uganda office of the WHO and the country's National Drug Authority are satisfied that the new version of the controversial Counterfeit Goods Bill does not threaten the importation and production of generic drugs by conflating them with fake drugs, as the first draft of the bill did.