Developed through Roll-Back Malaria (RBM), a partnership that includes the World Bank, UN Children's Fund, the Dutch Government, the Global Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation, AMFm seeks to distribute effective malaria treatments to areas that need it most.
New drugs, known as artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs), will replace older malaria medications, which have become less effective since the malaria parasite has developed a resistance to them.
Pharmaceutical companies will be able to lower production prices of ACTs as the initiative will create an increased and predictable demand for the drugs. The companies will also receive a subsidy from international donors for ACT production. Consequently, prices of ACTs are expected to drop from nearly US$10 per treatment to as low as 20 cents.
The inexpensive ACTs will be provided to 11 countries (Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda) for the next two years. Jon Lidén, Director of Communications at RBM, explained to MediaGlobal, “The [Global Fund] Board decided that AMFm should be launched in a small group of countries to enable lessons to be learned before a global roll-out of AMFm.” The AMFm will be distributed globally unless the first phase reveals clear failures, or “red flags,” in the program's methodologies.
Lidén explained the countries were selected using specific criteria. All countries must demonstrate a moderate to high malaria mortality rate and have experience with large-scale ACT deployment. The countries need to have high private sector involvement and strong monitoring systems, as well as over-the-counter sale of ACTs. The diversity of the countries will allow RBM to determine how the program can best be implemented under different circumstances where malaria is prevalent.
The Global Fund reports that AMFm could save 300,000 lives per year by making top-of-the-line treatment more available and accessible to impoverished populations. Malaria claims the lives of nearly one million people per year, including 2,000 children every day, in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.
AMFm will have an enormous economic impact. Developing countries lose billions of dollars each year due to malaria's debilitating effects on economic output. If the program can control malaria, then school attendance will be improved, tourism will increase, and health care costs will be reduced. A greater percentage of the population will be healthy enough to work and lead to greater production capabilities. The countries would see an increase in gross domestic product, and the people would have a greater earning power and live more sustainable lives.
The ambitious AMFm initiative comes at a time when current Global Fund programs are being praised. The World Health Organisation announced last week that malaria deaths have dropped by 66% in Zambia. The accomplishment meets the 2010 Roll Back Malaria target of a 50% reduction in mortality rates when compared to 2000.
The Zambian success came as a collaborative effort between the World Health Organisation, the Global Fund, and the Ministries of Health. Malaria control activities were started in 2003 as 500,000 insecticide-treated nets and ACTs were distributed in seven pilot districts throughout Zambia. A total of 3.6 million of the nets were distributed between 2006 and 2008. The comprehensive approach enabled local health workers to effectively treat existing cases of malaria while the nets significantly reduced the spread of the parasite.
Zambia's success will undoubtedly serve as an example for future malaria control efforts.
The RBM's Global Malaria Action Plan seeks to provide universal coverage for effective malaria control by 2010 and nearly eliminate malaria-related deaths in the following five years. AMFm has the potential to exceed that goal and eliminate the disease as a public health problem within the next decade.
Article published courtesy of GlobalMedia
