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According to The Statesman, the
introduction of indoor residual
spraying in selected vulnerable
communities in the Northern Region,
has saved more than 536,000 people,
including thousands of children and
pregnant women who are susceptible
to malaria, the leading cause of
death among children under age five
in third world countries. By the end
of the two month exercise, 63,000
houses and 215,000 rooms were
sprayed between May and July this
year in five selected districts in
the Northern Region namely,
Savelugu-Nanton, Tolon-Kumbungu,
West Mamprusi, Karaga and Gushegu,
which were chosen to undergo the
first phase of the exercise. The
three-year programme being funded by
the US President's Malaria
Initiative in collaboration with the
Ghana Health Service and other
implementing partners, seeks to
provide support for the national
malaria strategy totaling
approximately $53 million in
value...Mr Hellyer mentioned that
the programme also promotes
insecticide-treated bed nets,
improved case management of malaria
and the prevention of malaria in
pregnancy. Health Minister Major
Courage Quashigah underscored the
economic havoc malaria continues to
poise to Ghana's economy, saying
government estimated the annual
economic cost as malaria to be about
$772.4 million, which he said is
about 90 percent of the 2008 health
sector budget and the cost of 30,000
4x4 pickups. He expressed the hope
that the collaborative efforts of
all the stakeholders will help scale
up the programme to other parts of
the country.
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The Tobacco Association of Malawi is advocating against the
use of DDT to control malaria, using
spurious science and fear-mongering
to jeopardize those at risk of
malaria. We hope the health ministry
will not bow to this pressure, as it
will surely cost lives. Limited
public health resources should not
be sacrificed (e.g. on more
expensive, shorter-lasting
insecticides) in order to grow
tobacco industry profits. DDT is
recommended by the World Health
Organization as a safe and effective
insecticide to control malaria,
which is why numerous other
countries use it to control the
disease without suffering trade
embargoes. As the article's author
so eloquently put it, "So the debate
rages on, with economic issues
weighing about concerns of health.
Meanwhile, as the country's economy
surges ahead, courtesy of tobacco, a
pregnant woman and an under-five boy
are breathing their last somewhere
in Malawi, succumbing to malaria
they might not have caught had DDT
been allowed to join the battle
against the disease known to
comparatively kill more people than
the more fabled HIV/AIDS."
Read more.
Other News
Deal Seeks to Provide Malaria
Medicine at Low Prices
Ipca Labs sees malaria drug sales
double in 3 years
Malaria Researcher Calls for
Sustained Funding to Fight Scourge
Read All News > |
Dr. Bjorn Lomborg writes in the Wall Street Journal, "If you
had a spare $10 billion over the
next four years, how would you spend
it to achieve the most for humanity?
This is a small amount compared to
rich-government budgets. But if we
could set aside an extra $10
billion, we could achieve an awful
lot. To get the most bang for your
buck -- and ensure that your
generosity does the greatest good
for the largest number of people --
you will need to prioritize,
weighing up the costs and benefits
of different options. Unfortunately,
we too often focus on the most
fashionable spending options, rather
than the most rational. Spending an
extra dollar cutting C02 to combat
climate change generates less than
one dollar of good, even when we add
up all the economic and
environmental benefits. In contrast,
a dollar spent on research and
development into cleaner energy
technology generates $11 of economic
good. If that dollar was spent
combating heart disease in the third
world, it would achieve more than
twice that again. Copenhagen
Consensus commissioned eight of the
world's top economists to identify
the global challenges that can be
solved most cost-effectively."
Read more.
Upcoming Events
60 Organizations Signed on to the
March of Washingtons - add yours!
September 4-7, 2008: IREN Africa
Think Tank and Business Leadership
Training, Malindi, Kenya.
September 29-October 3, 2008: 17th
International Congress for Tropical
Medicine and Malaria, Jeju, Jeju
Island Korea.
Please email
Africa@fightingmalaria.org for
more information.
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