 |
Select Month
|
| |
 |
Sharp decline of malaria noted -
Simon Kivamwo
Hardly a year after the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in Tanzania had launched its activities in Zanzibar, there is a vivid sharp decline in malaria cases in the Isles as Abdul S Ali, the Zanzibar Malaria Control Program (ZMCP) Programme Manager reveals. Staff Writer Simon Kivamwo reports... |
|
Sen Tom Coburn's Letter to the WSJ -
Senator Tom Coburn
Senator Tom Coburn comments on Jason Riley's editorial in the Wall Street Journal. Dr Coburn commends the reforms that Dr Arata Kochi is making at the WHO, but warns that entrenched resistance at WHO may thwart his noble efforts. |
|
Malaria Kills Millions -- We Have the Cure -
Gilbert Ross
Gilbert Ross from the American Council on Science & Health comments on Jason Riley's editorial in the Wall Street Journal - the title of his letter is overstated, but we agree with his plea to the Gates Foundation to fund insecticide spraying. |
|
Sharp decline of malaria noted -
Simon Kivamwo
Hardly a year after the US President`s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in Tanzania had launched its activities in Zanzibar, there is a vivid sharp decline in malaria cases in the Isles as Abdul S Ali, the Zanzibar Malaria Control Program (ZMCP) Programme Manager reveals. Staff Writer Simon Kivamwo reports...
|
|
Senate's Most Wanted -
Review & Outlook
An anonymous US Senator is blocking progress on S.2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. |
|
Taxation As A Deadly Event -
Taxation As A Deadly Event
Nick Schulz reports on AFM's research on import tariffs and taxes on medicines and medical devices in Forbes Magazine. |
|
AFM's letter to Greenpeace -
AFM
Greenpeace recently came out against WHO's policies on using DDT in malaria control. AFM has written to Greenpeace asking for an explanation of their position, which not only goes against the scientific evidence and the world's leading malaria scientists, but also against more responsible environmentalist organisations. |
|
Sen. Tom Coburn's Letter to Paul Wolfowitz -
Sen. Tom Coburn
Sen Tom Coburn (R, OK) writes to World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz asking him to enact much needed reforms to the Bank's malaria control activities. |
|
Marathon Fights Malaria -
Christine Gorman
Marathon Oil, a $63 billion company, has achieved dramatic results in controlling malaria on Bioko Island and Equatorial Guinea using indoor residual spraying and ACTs. |
|
Malaria's Toll -
Jason L. Riley
Free market solutions to malaria control, such as those pioneered by George Ayittey and Lance Laifer, are increasingly effective, but the big development agencies are still Africa's best hope. IRS with DDT can and should be used by both. |
|
Senegal: Yabo Yabo embraces malaria prevention -
Reporting by Solène Edouard-Binkley, Regional Partnership Development Specialist for Christian Children's Fund
CCF, with the support of USAID/Senegal and the PMI, runs a special program to tackle malaria. The PMI, which was launched in 2005 by the Bush administration, is a $1.2 billion, five-year initiative to control Malaria in Africa. CCF began working in Senegal in 1985, helping to improve health services at the community level. |
|
Angola: Malanje - Malaria Kills Over 100 People -
Angola Press Agency
About 134 people died in the north-central Malanje Province victims of malaria, during the first semester of the current year. The information was given on Tuesday to ANGOP by the supervisor of the Provincial Programme of Malaria Control, Marcelino Pereira Bravo. |
|
HIV-Positive Women, Children Need Malaria Prevention, Says South African Singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka At Toronto AIDS Conference -
Roll Back Malaria Partnership Press Release
Antenatal services for HIV-positive pregnant women should include insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and malaria prophylaxis because co-infection can mean low birth weight, maternal anemia, increased infant mortality, and possibly an increased chance of mother-to- child transmission of HIV. South African singing sensation Yvonne Chaka Chaka, who serves as UNICEF's spokesperson on malaria in eastern and southern Africa, echoed the message delivered by a delegation of Roll Back Malaria Partners at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto. |
|
Canadian Customs Seize Mosquito Nets and -
Results
Astonishing stupidity and ignorance from Canadian Customs as they seize insecticide treated nets destined for the International AIDS Conference in Toronto. The episode highlights the inability of the West to rationally evaluate the risks from insecticides with the risks from mosquitoes that transmit malaria. |
|
WHO to Recommend DDT to Combat Malaria -
Rosanne Skirble
Global efforts to eradicate malaria have long relied heavily on DDT, short for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro ethane. But this powerful chemical was banned decades ago in the United States and many other countries in response to concerns about its overuse in agriculture, and its potential toxic effects on humans and wildlife. Renewed support from global health agencies is helping to put DDT back in the battle against malaria. |
|
Sticking it to the Mosquitoes -
Samiha Shafy
Der Spiegel discusses malaria control, the WHO's Dr Arata Kochi, DDT and quotes AFM adviser Prof Amir Attaran in this interesting piece. |
|
Uganda: Mulago Hospital to Train Malaria Health Workers -
Esther Nakkazi,
The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at Uganda's Mulago Hospital has introduced a training programme on malaria. Healthcare workers can now engage in scientific research and training to implement the new malaria treatment policy. |
|
Exxon Mobil commits N1.3bn to malaria in five years -
Perecy Owaiye
ExxonMobil held its first African Health Initiative(AHI) in Nigeria Partners/ Media Forum on Friday July 21, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. It was a punchy, well-controlled and effective session which started by 3pm,and in less than two hours, by 5pm, was over. |
|
Bring Back DDT -
Edward Wheeler, Ph.D.
Editor's Note: Author Edward Wheeler doesn't beat around the bush. Are mosquitoes carrying Malaria, or West Nile Virus? Then kill them all with D.D.T. Is the globe warming? Because if it is, environmentalists, then Malaria and West Nile Virus won't be just stories on television any more. According to Wheeler, the pesticide D.D.T. has gotten a bad rap. Used responsibly, he asserts, D.D.T. is the safest, most inexpensive, and most effective pesticide ever known. Only massive over-use of D.D.T. causes the kind of harm to ecosystems and organisms that got it banned. Meanwhile throughout the tropical world, Mosquito-borne disease is on the rise. While we sit comfortable in the cool north we can afford our articles of faith - D.D.T. is evil - yet still tens-of-millions in the tropics die each year of diseases brought to them by Mosquitoes. These diseases are preventable, and indeed, when D.D.T. was in widespread use, were nearly eradicated. Not anymore. Maybe it's time to reopen the discussion about D.D.T., and whether banning its use causes more harm than good. - Ed "Redwood" Ring |
|
TCS develops gene-based malaria cure -
C H Unnikrishnan
Tata Consultancy Services, India's leading software services firm, has developed a novel gene-based therapy for the treatment of malaria.
|
|
20 Countries Expected For Malaria Conference -
The Herald (Harare)
Delegations from almost 20 African countries are expected to converge in Zimbabwe for the annual East and Southern Africa malaria conference later this month. |
|
WHO to endorse DDT use: report -
ABC News Online
A leading scientific journal has reported the World Health Organisation (WHO) will now endorse the use of the banned agricultural chemical DDT to control malaria-carrying insects. |
|
DDT returns -
Apoorva Mandivilli
The most infamous pesticide in history is also the most effective weapon against malaria. Ready or not, DDT is on its way back to Africa. |
|
DDT back to fight malaria -
Reuters
Controlled indoor spraying of DDT is poised to make a comeback in countries that have tried and failed to do without it in the battle against malaria. |
|
For Immediate Release
August 15, 2023
Canadian Customs Seize Mosquito Nets and
Condoms Intended for AIDS Conference
Toronto – Canadian customs officials have seized and detained 1000 separate packages of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and condoms en route to the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto this week on the grounds that the nets contain pesticides that should not be imported into the country.
The packages are being held in customs in spite of the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) has certified that the insecticide-treated mosquito nets are perfectly safe, and that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) sends the very same mosquito nets to African countries.
Moreover, the mosquito nets were not even intended for use in Canada. They were to be distributed to African women attending the AIDS conference – especially those who are pregnant or HIV positive – for them to take back for use in their homes to protect themselves and their children from malaria. Each packet contained one mosquito net and a number of condoms.
“We came here to promote prevention of both HIV/AIDS and malaria,” said Louis Da Gama of Global Health Advocates, a NGO mobilizing society against diseases of poverty. “We wanted to provide African women attending this conference with something very practical, given the interaction of AIDS and malaria. We are astounded and very disappointed that a completely safe product which Canada purchases for other countries cannot be distributed at this important conference.”
The shipment of mosquito nets and condoms was eagerly anticipated as new information about the interaction between HIV/AIDS and malaria has been emerging at the conference. HIV makes malaria more prevalent and severe, reducing the effectiveness of anti-malaria drugs. HIV and malaria also make the outcome of pregnancy worse, causing increased maternal anemia, low birth weight and infant deaths.
The mosquito nets are a recently-developed “long lasting” type which can last up to five years using a safe insecticide known as deltamethrin. They are valued at approximately $5.00 each, but are usually given away for free to those in Africa and other endemic regions who cannot afford them.
The nets are considered a vital component of malaria control efforts. Currently, there are more than 500 million cases of malaria each year worldwide, resulting in one million deaths. Nearly 80 percent of these deaths are among children under five years of age. Most of these deaths are in Africa.
“The World Health Organization confirms that these long lasting insecticidal nets pose absolutely no health risk to Canadians, nor to anyone else in the world,” said Dr Arata Kochi, head of WHO’s Global Malaria Department, who is attending the conference. “The only threat they pose is to mosquitoes. I don’t think Canadian custom officials want to protect mosquitoes.”
In the past Canada has been a leading force in mosquito net distribution, but CIDA support for bed net programs has fallen from CAD $20 million in 2005 to just CAD $9 million in 2006. In 2005, CIDA funded a massive mosquito net campaign in Africa. Working together with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, they distributed millions of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets in five African countries. Over 2 million nets were distributed in Niger alone. In Niger it is estimated that the program will have already saved the lives of 40,000 children this year.
“Given the desperate need of millions of poor people for protection from the ravages of malaria, this funding decline is unconscionable,” said RESULTS President Blaise Salmon. “This conference should be an opportunity for Canada to show leadership and boost malaria funding back to where it should be, not embarrass ourselves by blocking nets at the border.”
The mosquito nets being shipped to Toronto were to be featured at a special session at the conference Thursday morning on “Empowering HIV-positive Women and their Families to Demand Prevention and Treatment Interventions for Malaria.” Da Gama, a British national who is co-chairing the session, promised the session would proceed as planned.
“Having camped and fished in Canada, I can understand how some folks here would treasure holding on to some of these excellent mosquito-repelling nets,” said Da Gama. “But mosquito bites in Lesotho have much more serious consequences than those in Ontario. I really hope Canadian officials will understand this, reconsider, and let us give these nets to the African women visiting here.”
# # #
For more information, contact Jove Oliver at 1-647-833-8653, or
Labib El-Ali at 1-613-262-8653
|
