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National and international experts on malaria from 25 African countries discuss how to stop sub-standard drugs used for the treatment of the disease in the private sector

|  By Maureen Chigbo  |  Jul. 15, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

HOW to end the problem of sub-standard anti-malarial drugs in Africa was the focus of discussion at the just ended 12^th annual National Malaria Control Programme, NMCP, Best Practice Sharing Workshop. Both National and international experts on malaria from more than 25 African countries explored solutions to eradicate sub-standard treatment in the private sector, where half of the patients in Africa buy antimalarials from the private sector where wide availability of sub-standard treatment is putting patient’s lives at risk. Novartis, with support of leading international organisations, including the Global Fund, Clinton Health Access Initiative, ACTwatch,  Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, and the Global Business Coalition, has developed the workshop programme to address and explore these issues and increase efforts to combat malaria. The theme of this year’s NMCP workshop is: “Expanding Access to Quality-Assured Artemisinin-based Combination therapies”, ACTs.

Commenting on the importance of the discussions, Bob Snow, a professor and chairman of the Malaria Public Health Department at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust, said: “The progress that has been made toward significantly reducing the malaria burden in Africa will quickly be undermined if we do not tackle the endemic problem of poor quality antimalarials in the private sector. The issue urgently needs to be addressed through a collaborative effort between governments and the wider malaria constituency so that we can ensure that all patients have access to the best antimalarials available.”

Successful treatment of malaria depends on high-quality antimalarials, and this could be undermined through sub-standard, obsolete antimalarials, and oral artemisinin monotherapies remain readily available in many African countries through the private sector. These treatments may contain too little or no active ingredient, thereby putting patients’lives at risk.

The integration of Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria, AMFm, into the core Global Fund grant process, will mean that in the future, countries will need to specifically apply for and allocate resources to private sector strategies. This has the potential to impact on patient’s access to quality-assured medicines as up to half of Africans purchase antimalarials through the private sector. In light of this, there is a need to explore how NMCPs will integrate private sector access to antimalarials into their overall malaria strategies.

Highlighting the significance of expanding access to quality-assured ACTs,  Okui Albert Peter, programme manager of the NMCP in Uganda, said,“a large proportion of Africans source antimalarial treatments through the private sector but the quality of these treatments cannot always be guaranteed. Now, more than ever, it is important that we develop sustainable solutions that do not solely rely on donor funding to ensure effective and affordable treatments reach patients that access their treatment through private sources.”

Novartis will launch a virtual community to allow NMCP workshop participants to continue workshop discussions throughout the year. This private and by invitation only community, will be hosted on a website of expert-led communities developed and managed by the Global Health Delivery Project at the Harvard University. The platform will enable NMCP members to discuss new successes and challenges as well as practical solutions to improving malaria control and elimination strategies in their countries. It will allow users to disseminate their work and to connect with almost 10,000 other members of public communities across different disease areas who represent more than 2,800 organisations in 175 countries on GHDonline.

“With this virtual community, Novartis is set to be one of the first leading healthcare companies to support the professional exchange of knowledge between experts across geographies. Collaborations and ideas that will undoubtedly germinate in this platform will work to accelerate progress in the fight against malaria,” said Sungano Mharakurwa, Scientific Director at the Macha Research Trust in Choma, Zambia.

Since the first pioneering workshop in 2006, NMCP best practice sharing workshops have been facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practice between countries, highlighting successes and challenges, raising awareness of new initiatives, and discussing practical solutions to the barriers to malaria prevention and treatment.

“The Novartis Malaria Initiative is proud to host the 12th NMCP workshop as these meetings have led to groundbreaking projects that have significantly impacted the control of malaria. We look forward to fostering new approaches to fighting malaria by bringing together the best minds and leaders in the field. Partnerships such as these are vital in the fight against malaria,” said Linus Igwemezie, head of the Novartis Malaria Initiative.

Groundbreaking projects have emerged from past workshops, such as the SMS for Life programme to support more efficient stock management in rural health facilities, and the development of Coartem® Dispersible, the first Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy, ACT, specifically tailored to infants and children, and meeting the World Health Organisation requirements for a pediatric antimalarial medicine, which was developed in collaboration with Medicines for Malaria Venture, MMV.

Novartis is on track to reach the significant milestone of delivering 200 million treatments of Coartem® Dispersible in 2013. Never before have so many treatments been distributed in such a short time frame to assist children suffering from malaria.

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