id21 marks Africa Malaria Day, 2004

More than 600 million people, most of them children living in
sub-Saharan Africa, face the daily threat of death from malaria
because new, effective treatments are not available where they live.
Existing, cheaper medicines, which have been used for many years, are
no longer effective in most places because the malaria parasite has
developed resistance to them. Artemisinin-based combination therapies
(ACTs) provide a highly effective new medicine to treat malaria for
the first time in more than 20 years. But despite some progress, the
new treatment has not become available as widely or as quickly as it
needs to.

Following Africa Malaria Day on April 25th, id21, the international
development research reporting service, is focusing on malaria for the
next two weeks. Visit http://www.id21.org/health for the latest
research summaries on malaria including:

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No place like home – treating childhood malaria in The Gambia

Home treatment with shop-bought drugs is assumed to be the most common
approach to malaria throughout sub-Saharan Africa. But research by the
Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory amongst mothers shows this is not true
in rural Gambia, where less than 10 % of children are treated with
anti-malarials at home. Attempts to improve access to rapid treatment
here should focus on government health centres, the researchers
conclude. More…

http://www.id21.org/health/h4sc4g1.html

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Ceiling fans: changes in house design reduce the risk of malaria

Anopheles gambiae is the main malaria-carrying mosquito in Africa. It
enters houses through the open eaves of over-hanging roofs. Could
changes in house design reduce the spread of malaria? Researchers from
the UK University of Durham and the Medical Research Council tested
different hut modifications in the Gambia. More…

http://www.id21.org/health/h4sl1g1.html

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Something in the air – the future of mosquito control in Tanzania?

Dar es Salaam's 2.5 million residents spend up to US$ 1 million each
month on products to rid their homes of mosquitoes. Researchers from
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are seeking new
methods that are more effective than sprays or coils and cheaper than
electrical vaporising mats. More…

http://www.id21.org/health/h4hp1g1.html

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Artemether-lumefantrine: is it effective for treating uncomplicated
malaria?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is promoting artemisinin
combination therapy to combat emerging malaria drug resistance.
Artemether-lumefantrine is one such combination and is the only
fixed-dose artemisinin combination widely available. The six-dose
regimen is recommended following its addition to the WHO Essential
Drugs List. How does it compare to other anti-malarial drugs? Which
dose regimen is the most effective? Researchers at the Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine conducted a Cochrane systematic review of
study results to answer these questions. More…

http://www.id21.org/health/h4ao1g1.html

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A family history - why does malaria lead to fits in some young
children?
Why do some children infected with malaria have fits? Is the
predisposition passed from parent to child? The Kenya Medical Research
Institute together with the Institute of Child Health, University of
London, carried out research amongst children with severe malaria and
their parents in Kenya to see if there was a family history of fits.
More…

http://www.id21.org/health/h4av1g1.html

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The id21 online collection contains hundreds of policy-relevant
research digests on global development issues. To see the whole
collection visit our website at: http://www.id21.org/

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