New malaria treatment in Somalia and Angola

  1. Posted on Thursday 27 April 2006 - 10:14
    Redactie AfrikaNieuws
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    25 April 2006. Africa Malaria Day, which is commemorated annually on April 25, marked the launch of a new effective treatment for the disease in Somalia. Malaria Day has been set aside by African governments committed to rolling back malaria.
    An estimated one million children below five years die of malaria annually in Africa. In central and Southern Somalia, malaria is estimated to account for approximately 8% of all illnesses among children under-five years of age.
    The new treatment, Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) is made up of two drugs: Artesunate and Sulfadoxine- Pyramethamine. Since January 2006, UNICEF has been training health workers in the country on malaria treatment using ACT to replace drugs to which there is high resistance.
    Alongside the new drugs, rapid diagnostic tests are being introduced. These simple-to-use tests can confirm Malaria diagnosis within 15 minutes and are useful where reliable testing is not available.
    Last week, the Health minister of Luanda- Angola Sebastiao Veloso, launched the use of the new drug in Angola. According to Angola Press the minister said artemisinin represents a great breakthrough in the continued revolution of universal medicine, being an important gain to the country's health actions which will benefit the communities, mainly in endemic areas.
    The minister added that the expansion of the use of the medicine will be done gradually in the most endemic provincial capitals of the country.

Reactions

  1. Posted on Monday 20 October 2008 11:38
    madalitso
    Image of madalitso

    Madalitso Kateta
    170 berichten
    Lid sinds August 2008
    Blantyre

    I think African governments need to do alot in making health services easily accessible more espessially with the AIDS pandemic.
    We have been hearing of the so called new treatments yet on the ground the situation is so bad and maralia and other manageable deseases continue to claim lives of many
    Madalitso Kateta