Lets make a difference on World Malaria Day by signing the JUMA petition

Who is Juma?

Juma is a 5 year old boy who daily goes to school and aspires to become a great person one day. 

One day, he wakes up amidst high fever. His mother immediately takes him to a doctor and he is diagnosed with malaria. Juma's mother buys the tablets at a local shop. Tablets that cost her the little money she earned in the market that day. Tablet that should save the life of Juma.

His mother makes sure that he gets the medicine on time. But still, Juma becomes sicker and sicker. He sinks into a coma and dies in the early hours of the following morning leaving his mother devastated.

A young mother lost her 5-year old to malaria. The malaria drugs she bought looked like the real medicine, but contained nothing more than chalk. They were 100 % fake.

Like Juma, every year 100,000 children die after taking fake malaria drugs.

Malaria drugs should cure children, not kill them.


On the occasion of World Malaria Day, It becomes our responsibility to help people who are dying due to the supply of fake anti-malarial drugs in Africa.

The anti-malarial drugs are believed to be imported from Asian countries like China and India and around 1/3 of all malaria drugs sold in Africa are fake. Fake malaria drugs kill hundreds of innocent children everyday.

African governments are engaged in the fight against these killer drugs but need international support to end its production and export from Asia. During the past year, an estimated 250.000 people have lost their lives due to fake drugs. The problem is severe and is still getting worse.Malaria is an infectious disease that kills 650.000 people, mainly young children in Africa, every year. Good malaria drugs make a difference between life and death.

Governments in many African countries are making an effort to restrict the sales of fake drugs. They cannot win this war alone. The production and export of fake malaria drugs has to stop!

Sign the Juma petition to:
Persuade the Governments of India and China to take action against the illegal production of fake malaria drugs; Convince the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) that fake malaria drugs need to be a priority issue and support governments of malaria endemic countries in their war against fake malaria drugs.


Follow the link to sign the Juma petition:
http://www.fakedrugskill.org 

Lets Make a Difference!!!!!

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World’s first carbohydrate malaria vaccine wins Gates Foundation grant!!

A Walter and Eliza Hall Institute project to develop the world’s first carbohydrate-based malaria vaccine has received a US$1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through the Grand Challenges Explorations program.

Associate Professor Louis Schofield has been awarded a US$1 million 

grant to advance the development of the world's first carbohydrate malaria vaccine

The vaccine, developed by Associate Professor Louis Schofield from the institute’s Infection and Immunity division, targets an essential Plasmodium parasite carbohydrate called GPI (glycosylphosphatidylinositol). GPI is also a toxin produced by the Plasmodium parasite that has previously been identified as a major determinant in the severity and fatality of disease.

Associate Professor Schofield said the US$1 million Grand Challenges Explorations Phase II funding will allow the team to advance development and preclinical trials that will test the ability of the vaccine to interrupt transmission of the parasite, and decrease the severity of the disease.

“The anti-GPI vaccine is novel in that it is the first potential antimalarial vaccine that targets a parasite carbohydrate, rather than a protein,” he said. “Malaria parasites invest considerable effort in evading the immune system, continuously modifying its proteins to avoid detection, which is why a malaria vaccine has continued to be elusive. A vaccine that targets a highly conserved carbohydrate target could be especially effective in treating malaria.”

Associate Professor Schofield said that a vaccine with anti-toxic properties could also be a highly effective public health tool. “Vaccines against pathogen-derived toxins have been successful against tetanus, diptheria and pertussis [whooping cough], but have not been developed for treating malaria,” Associate Professor Schofield said. “The use of a vaccine with anti-toxin properties could help to diminish the disease burden in countries where malaria is endemic, particularly if used in combination with other prevention and treatment strategies.”

The US$1 million Phase II funding follows on from a one-year Phase I funding project also supported by the Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations program.

The phase I project generated some very encouraging results indicating that the anti-GPI vaccine could be very useful in both preventing and treating malaria.

World Health Organization figures indicate more than half the world is at risk of malaria infection, with 225 million cases of malaria and almost 800,000 deaths annually. The disease is the biggest killer in sub-Saharan Africa, where approximately 20 per cent of all childhood deaths are due to malaria, the equivalent of one child every 45 seconds.

“We have done extensive work in areas where malaria is endemic, such as Papua New Guinea, where malaria is a substantial disease and economic burden,” Associate Professor Schofield said. “We are excited to move into further development and trials of a vaccine that may help to diminish this burden.”

The project is one of only nine Grand Challenges Explorations projects that received up to $1 million in funding to advance ideas that have shown promise in tackling global health challenges. Grand Challenges Explorations enables researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges.

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