Yesterday afternoon, I went to a congressional briefing describing new tools that can be used in the fight against malaria, co-sponsored by the Global Health Council, Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, and the Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics (FIND).

Every thirty seconds, a child dies from malaria. This leads to over one million deaths each year, including 700,000 children under five, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. While these statistics are heartbreaking, there have been significant improvements in the medicines that treat malaria. Even more encouraging, developments in science may lead to a vaccine that has the potential to prevent and ultimately eradicate the disease.

Antony Kalm, the Executive Vice-President of Corporate Development at Medicines for Malaria Venture described a partnership with Novartis to develop the first effective, affordable and child-friendly anti-malarial treatment called Coartem Dispersable.

Coartem Dispersable, which was launched in February this year, was created for children infected with malaria. Unlike other bitter-tasting malarial drugs, Coartem-D is sweet-tasting which greatly improves kids’ willingness to take the medicine. Just as important, it is cost-effective; the full treatment is just 37 cents for young children and 80 cents for older children. So far, the reaction to the medicine has been positive by children, parents and doctors alike.

Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) PATH is working to develop a malarial vaccine called RTS, S that children would take as a preventative measure. RTS, S is a developing vaccine that has the most progression yet. It will enter the third and final stage within a few months, and, if successful, could possibly be implemented by 2012. Hopefully on World Malaria Day in 2012, we will have a lot to celebrate.

-Julie Ramaccia, ONE’s Government Relations Intern

I just got off a conference call hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for bloggers interested in the fight against malaria. Specifically, the call focused on the Grand Challenges Explorations, a grant program that aims to foster innovation in global health research. The Foundation commits $100 million to “expand the pipeline of ideas to fight our greatest health challenges.”

As World Malaria Day fast approaches, this call focuses particularly on 3 grant recipients who have made some pretty great achievements in fighting malaria through innovation and hard work. Dr. Szabolcs Marka of Columbia University is an astrophysicist, which was fairly compelling to me as that’s not a field I would generally associate with fighting malaria. But his really innovative idea to use optical ways—essentially a flashlight– to disrupt mosquitoes’ sensory networks, thereby limiting their ability to locate human prey, made a lot of sense to me.

Brian Foy of Colorado State University is seeking to end malaria deaths through other ways by developing and strategically employing drugs that would be administered to humans and then kill mosquitoes upon contact with the blood. Pradipsinh Rathod of the University of Washington seeks to confront the problem of mutating strains of malaria by searching for small molecules that could inhibit some of these mutations and give traditional drugs a fighting chance to make an impact.

It was fantastic to hear about this great program and the excellent work being done all around the world to come up with innovative and creative ways to end malaria deaths. You can learn more about Grand Challenge Explorations here.

-Chris Scott

In its third annual report released today, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) announced that it has reached more than 32 million people with malaria prevention and treatment activities in Africa. This is an impressive achievement for an agency created just three years ago, and one that represents a significant scale-up from 6 million people reached in 2006 and 25 million people reached in 2007.

PMI is a $1.2 billion five-year initiative of the U.S. government to reduce the burden of malaria and help alleviate poverty on the African continent. Specifically, it is intended to cut malaria-related deaths by 50 percent in 15 of the hardest hit counties. The initiative is led by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency originally tasked with malaria control in the U.S. over 60 years ago.

To achieve its mandate, PMI works to reduce malaria infections and deaths through proven and effective prevention and treatment programs. In 2008, PMI obtained more than 6.4 million long lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) for distribution, and 15.6 million artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) treatments. An estimated 6 million houses were covered by indoor residual spraying, providing protection from mosquito bites for nearly 25 million people.

With support from PMI, countries like Rwanda, Zambia, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda have all reported declines in the number of people infected with malaria. In Zambia, between 2006 and 2008, malaria prevalence fell by 53 percent and severe anemia cases in children under 5, which is closely linked with malaria, dropped by 68 percent. PMI credits country governments, the Global Fund, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other partners for the malaria control successes being seen.

-Rena Pacheco-Theard

Roll Back Malaria has combed through the WHO World Malaria Report and the Global Malaria Action Plan to compile some of the top figures on malaria in an easy to use three-page document. Here is a sampling of the information they have gathered:

• Malaria is responsible for nearly one million deaths, mostly children under 5 years
• 91% of malaria deaths occur in Africa
• 3.3 billion people, half of the world’s population, are at risk for malaria
• Malaria results in $12 billion per year in direct losses in Africa, 1.3% of GDP
• 40% of public health spending in sub-Saharan Africa is directed to malaria
• Malaria accounts for over 10% of average household yearly spending in Africa

We know more now than ever before, and the data contained in this document is just what malaria advocates need to make the case for increased efforts and resources in the global fight against malaria.

Learn more by reading the full document here.

-Rena Pacheco-Theard

The Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFm) was launched Friday, April 17th, to ensure that those suffering from malaria have access to inexpensive and effective treatment. The AMFm will reduce the price of effective malaria drugs (artemesinin-based combination therapies, ACTs), in order to drive out older, ineffective drugs (like those containing chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine) from the market.

ACTs are currently 10-40 times more expensive over the counter than their less effective counterparts. Due to the higher price, many patients continue to purchase the cheaper, less effective drugs. Presently, only one out of every five malaria patients has access to ACTs. With the AMFm, this figure is expected to change, as those who pay for treatments will likely see the price of ACTs go from $6-10 per treatment to about $0.20-0.50. The initiative’s first phase will launch in Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.

This innovative initiative to bring down the price of effective malaria drugs, which will be hosted and managed by the Global Fund, was developed by Roll-Back Malaria (RBM). RBM is a global malaria partnership that includes the World Bank, UNICEF, the Dutch Government, the Global Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation. The cost of $225-233 million needed for medicines in the first two years will be supported by UNITAID and the United Kingdom government.

To learn more, read the press release here.

-Rena Pacheco-Theard

Actor Ashton Kutcher beat CNN to one million followers on the social media platform Twitter at 2:13am EST Friday. To celebrate his triumph over the network giant, Kutcher is sending 10,000 mosquito nets to help Malaria No More fight malaria in Africa. This will help protect 20,000 children from this disease-and raise awareness just in time for World Malaria Day on April 25th!

Kutcher is highlighting World Malaria Day on April 25th by mobilizing his Twitter followers to tweet about the disease and donate mosquito nets to Malaria No More. On Tuesday, Kutcher realized that he had over 850,000 followers on Twitter (making his Twitter feed the third most-followed after Britney Spears and CNN) and the gauntlet was thrown! In only a few short days, he has gotten tens of thousands of people to sign up to help him reach his goal and send mosquito nets to Africa. CNN joined in the fun and tracked the race to a million on air and on the web, with Larry King and Anderson Cooper urging their viewers to put CNN over the top—but in the end, Ashton carried the day!

Ashton Kutcher is leveraging the incredible power of Twitter to catalyze one of the biggest pro-social movements in history. This is an amazing model of how modern technology and social networking can be applied to a social issue, inspire millions of people and help save lives. Follow Ashton and congratulate him for his great work and for helping to save lives from malaria at http://twitter.com/aplusk.

Malaria No More is determined to end malaria deaths and is using every weapon in its arsenal.including new technologies to fight an ancient disease. Twitter has emerged as a robust vehicle for raising mass awareness and rallying the world to say NO MORE to malaria deaths. Follow Malaria No More on Twitter at http://twitter.com/malarianomore.

-Emily Bergantino, Malaria No More

We noted last week that donors met in Spain from March 31 to April 1 to review the progress and funding needs of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Here are some highlights from the communiqué.

Results show the Global Fund is having a significant impact: Michel Kazatchkine, the Global Fund’s Executive Director said that the Global Fund “is affecting the course of these three epidemics.” With commitments reaching $15 billion since inception in 2002, the Global Fund has provided support for more than 600 programs in 140 countries. The Minister of Health from Nigeria, the Honorable Babatunde Osotimehin, presented findings on Nigeria’s malaria prevention and control efforts, including contributions from the Global Fund of 4 million long-lasting insecticide treated nets and 18 million doses of ACTs. Burkina Faso’s Minister of Health, the Honorable Seydou Bouda, described many gains in malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS supported by the Global Fund, including 1.2 million children under five receiving ACTs, among others. (Stay tuned for more on Global Fund results coming later this week!)

Donors agreed that with the growth of Global Fund programs, long-term sustainability becomes even more important. Increased domestic financing for health from Global Fund recipients was one area emphasized as a way to improve sustainability. Nigeria and Burkina Faso both pledged full commitment to this. On the Global Fund side, participants asked that cost effectiveness and efficiency opportunities be pursued so that results can be maximized with available funding.

Demand for funding has increased so much that the Global Fund now estimates there is a $4 billion gap between resources currently available and those needed to meet the $13.5 billion demand from countries for 2008-2010. With what is currently available, Round 8 could be fully funded, but there is only $0.9 billion for Round 9 and subsequent rounds. The Global Fund Board will begin approving new grants in November of this year, so there is an urgent need for donors to address the funding gap. Spain has already shown its commitment, and was congratulated for increasing its contribution to $213 million. Other donors confirmed that that they expect to meet the commitments made in Berlin 2007. ONE is hoping they will in fact follow through on their commitments so the Global Fund can continue to support countries in their efforts to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria.

-Lisa Fleisher

World Malaria Day is just around the corner on April 25th—just 615 days away from the malaria community’s deadline to achieve universal access to malaria interventions in Africa by December 31, 2010. This year’s timely World Malaria Day theme, “Counting Malaria Out”, keeps the pressure on to reach our goal and save lives from this preventable and treatable disease.

Every second counts. The world needs to intensify its efforts in the months to come, building on the momentum of the accomplishments of recent years: significant reductions in deaths, growing political will in Africa and abroad, and unprecedented public awareness. We’re in a race to end malaria deaths…and we need your help to get there.

Malaria kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds and costs the continent $12 billion every year in lost productivity. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have the tools and the programs in place to end malaria deaths—help us support Africa in its efforts to break the cycle of sickness and poverty.

This World Malaria Day, Malaria No More is urging US leadership for continued support in the winning battle against malaria. Malaria offers an incredible opportunity for return-on-investment—exactly what the world is looking for in this economic climate. Help President Obama keep his campaign promise of joining with the global malaria community to end malaria deaths by 2015.

Join us on World Malaria Day as we focus on “Counting Malaria Out” and be part of the first great humanitarian success story of the 21st century—making malaria no more for once and for all.

Find out more at www.MalariaNoMore.org.

-Emily Bergantino, Malaria No More

ONE partner World Vision gears up for World Malaria Day (April 25) with this video and a new website: www.endmalaria.org.

As World Malaria Day gets closer, ONE will provide more ways to educate and take action.

Take a look.

-Mark Brinkmoeller

Part 5 in a series from ONE staff on the ground in Ghana and Nigeria. You can read the other posts here.

What disease kills an African child every thirty seconds? Malaria. And what can be prevented with only $10? Malaria. And what can be treated for only $2? Yep, malaria.

On Wednesday, we took a visit to the village of Asuense, to see how U.S. funds are helping to prevent malaria in that village and others like it. The U.S. is tackling malaria through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), a U.S. funded program designed to cut malaria-related deaths by 50% in 15 focus countries in Africa, including Ghana.

When we arrived at Asuense, the villagers were already gathered. They not only took a curious peak at the group from ONE, there was a practical purpose as well. Several services were available to encourage good health.

After the dancing and a welcome from the village chief—all very hard acts to follow—we saw a skit performed by a travelling crew of Ghanaians. The skit cleverly addressed existing fears about the safety of insecticides (such as those used on insecticide treated bed nets) and explained how effective they can be.

After the celebrations, the villagers visited the health stations. In the first station, they were able to restore old bed nets free of charge by soaking them in a liquid that replenishes the insecticides. This must happen once every 20 washes, which is around once per year. At the second station, we saw an example of public-private partnerships in action as women sold bed nets and earned between $.075-2.00 apiece. At the third station, children received vaccinations and mothers received a booklet that allowed them to record the vaccines being given and read about other important healthcare practices.

We were also invited into the homes of a few generous women, where we learned how they hang their bed net. A beautiful young mother of one named Rafia allowed me into her home. There I began to understand why some people own bed nets, yet chose not to use them. You have to find a spot to hang them with just the right height and length, and for some families in small spaces, they must also remove the nets every morning and hang them every night. I learned that prevention is not just about distributing bed nets. To be effective, donor countries must find ways to partner with local groups to help educate people on how to use bed nets, discover the most effective means of distribution, and encourage those vulnerable to the disease to actually use them.

-Aaron Banks