As part of a collaborative effort to address global health issues, Pfizer announced a $15 million commitment that will help close critical treatment gaps in malaria for patients in Senegal, Ghana and Kenya. Through the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), Pfizer will partner with governments, leading local and international organizations like UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the President's Malaria Initiative (USAID), and non governmental organizations (NGOs) to help develop and strengthen programs for the effective treatment and management of malaria.
Malaria is Africa's leading cause of child mortality with one out of every five children dying as a result of the disease. While effective new anti- malarial medicines have become available, critical obstacles remain in ridding affected regions of this fatal, yet curable, disease.
"The malaria pandemic in Africa, responsible for 10 per cent of the continent's overall disease burden, is a heartbreaking and frustrating challenge," said Dr Joseph Feczko, Pfizer's chief medical officer. "Unless patient education and the capacity for care is rapidly improved, new anti- malarial will achieve only incremental health impact," concluded Feczko.
Through the five year malaria initiative, the company will provide grants and Pfizer Global Health Fellow (GHF) expertise to support programs that improve patients' understanding of appropriate treatment and patient care, especially in the non-traditional informal health sector where sub-optimal diagnosis and treatment is offered.
"We commend President Clinton for his leadership and partnership with global
business leaders in improving the quality of life for people throughout the
developing world," said Robert L. Mallett, senior vice president, Global
Stakeholder Alliances, Philanthropy & Corporate Citizenship. "We are pleased
to announce this initiative as part of our continued commitment to partner in
the fight to address neglected diseases," Mallett added.
With several decades of experience working with stakeholders on the African continent, Pfizer will support efforts to engage health care providers to improve the effective management of malaria and educate patients to make better health choices. Through the malaria initiative, Pfizer is targeting partnerships in these regions to increase the number of caretakers seeking appropriate treatment for feverish children and increase the number of children taking anti-malarial medications.
Malaria experts in Senegal, Ghana and Kenya, indicate that the greatest barrier to care is that patients and caretakers do not seek and complete proper treatment regimens rather than taking the right course of treatment, many patients rely on traditional medicines and herbs, take an unfinished course from their last bout of malaria, or take aspirin or other painkillers to ward off the symptoms.
Pfizer also has a research programme focused on malaria. Scientists are developing a potential treatment based on its widely used antibiotic Zithromax. Dosed in combination with chloroquine, Zithromax has demonstrated promising results against malaria in a pilot study. Clinical studies are underway at 19 study centers in 10 countries in South America, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and Africa. Leading international researchers are conducting these trials under the guidance of each country's Ministry of Health and Ethics Committee.