Zee Media Bureau
Washington: According to a new study, Malaria research and development will require up to USD 8.3 billion over the next decade to combat the deadly disease which threatens half of the world's population, especially in countries like India.
Given the current situation ( Malaria kills about 660,000 people,mostly young children in Africa every year) research and development investments are critical to combat the deadly disease.
Over the next decade (2013-2022), it will be necessary to develop new tools needed to sustain efforts to combat the disease; the midrange projection calls for investment of about $700 million annually. About two-thirds of the projected sum would be required to produce drugs that can completely eliminate parasites from infected patients, vaccines that can interrupt malaria transmission between humans and mosquitoes, vector control products that kill mosquitoes before they ever reach humans and better diagnostic tools for health workers in the field.
The report also warned and discussed the challenges posed by the Plasmodium vivax species of malaria parasite which accounts for half of malaria cases in South and Southeast Asia and up to 81 percent of the malaria in Latin America.
"For both P. vivax and P. falciparum malaria, we need new, effective, and affordable tools—including drugs—to ensure that we not only clear parasites from the body but also protect against immediate re-infection and ideally help limit transmission," said David Reddy, PhD, CEO of Medicines for Malaria Venture. "Rapid diagnostics for malaria are also urgently needed to ensure people are receiving the right treatment for their disease", he further added.
