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AFRICA HEALTH NEWS
A WHITAKER GROUP PUBLICATIONNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008
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REVENTION
GOOGLE JOINS FIGHT TOPREVENT FUTURE PANDEMICS
Search engine company Google announced in October that it award-ed grants of more than $14 million to support researchers in Africaand Southeast Asia who are working to prevent the next pandemic.
e initiative, known as Predict and Prevent, will be part of a glob-al effort to identify hot spots where diseases may emerge, detect newpathogens circulating in animal and human populations, and respondto outbreaks before they become global crises.“Business as usual won’t pre- vent the next AIDS or SARS. eteams we’re funding today are onthe frontiers of digital and geneticearly detection technology. Wehope that their work, with part-ners across environmental, animaland health boundaries, will helpsolve centuries-old problems andsave millions of lives,” said Dr.Larry Brilliant, Executive Directorof Google.org, the company’s phil-anthropic arm.New infectious diseases occurevery year; recent examples in-clude HIV/AIDS, SARS (SevereAcute Respiratory Syndrome) and avian influenza. ree-quarters of those new diseases are zoonoses, that is, they have jumped from ani-mals to humans.In addition, the Predict and Prevent initiative aims to support sci-entists seeking to predict and avert outbreaks of established diseasesbefore they happen by using a range of tools such as long-term weatherforecasts, deforestation maps, genetic detection of new pathogens andthe development of digital models.Organizations receiving grants include:■ e Massachussetts-based Woods Hole Research Center - A $2million grant to support high-resolution satellite mapping of forests toenhance monitoring of forest loss and settlement expansion in tropicalcountries. e Center will create information to share with environ-mental and human experts so they can better anticipate the emergenceof infectious diseases.■ Columbia University International Research Institute for Climateand Society - A $900,000 grant to improve the use of forecasts, rainfalldata and other climate information in East Africa, and to link weatherand climate experts to health professionals so they can better predictthe outbreak of infectious diseases.■ University Corporation for Atmospheric Research - A $900,000grant to build and implement a system that will use weather projectionsto inform and target responses to disease threats in West Africa.■ Global Viral Forecasting Initiative (GVFI) - A $5.5 million grantto support the collection and analysis of blood samples of humans andanimals in hot spots within Cameroon, Democratic Republic of theCongo (DRC), China, Madagascar and Southeast Asia.■ Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health - A $2.5million grant to support research to accelerate the discovery of newpathogens, and to enable a rapid regional response to outbreaks by es-tablishing molecular diagnostics in vulnerable countries including Si-erra Leone and Bangladesh.■ Children’s Hospital Corporation supporting Healthmap andProMED-mail - A $3 million grant to combine HealthMap’s digital de-tection efforts with ProMED-mail’s global network of human, animal,and ecosystem health specialists. Together, these programs will assesscurrent emerging disease reporting systems, expand regional networksin Africa and Southeast Asia, and develop new tools to improve thedetection and reporting of outbreaks. HealthMap brings together dis-parate data sources to achieve a unified and comprehensive view of thecurrent global state of infectious diseases. ProMED-mail is a global re-porting system for outbreaks of emerging diseases.
Kenyan farmers examine their  poultry aer an outbreak of avianinfluenza in Sudan
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GLOBAL FUND APPROVESRECORD SUM IN NEW GRANTS
e Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announcedin November that it approved $2.75 billion in new grants, more thantwice the sum approved to date by the Fund’s board in one fundingcycle. e majority of the resources - 51% - will go to malaria pro-grams, with proposals for AIDS and tuberculosis receiving 38% and11% respectively.
“is is the highest amount of new financing approved by the Glob-al Fund ever. ese new resources will significantly help the world inachieving global targets such as universal access to AIDS treatment andprevention, and cutting the number of deaths from tuberculosis andmalaria by half by 2015,” said Mr. Rajat Gupta, Chair of the Global FundBoard.Most of the new funding - 77% - has been earmarked for Africa andthe Middle East. Asia and the Western Pacific will receive 14%, LatinAmerica and the Caribbean 6%, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia6%. Twenty-eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa received grants, withthe largest sums going to Nigeria ($409.4 million), Tanzania ($264.7million), the Democratic Republic of Congo ($233.2 million), Zimba-bwe ($187.3 million), Ethiopia ($148.4 million) and Zambia ($144.1million).e Global Fund is a public-private partnership between govern-ments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities. Itworks in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral orga-nizations to supplement existing efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculo-sis and malaria. To date, the Global Fund has committed $11.3 billionin 140 countries.
 
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Clinical trials began in October to test a new tuberculosis vaccine that, researchers hope,will improve immunity among people whohave already received the standard vaccinebut who remain vulnerable to new drug-re-sistant strains.
A Phase I trial of the vaccine, developed by Dutch biopharmaceutical company CrucellN.V. and the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foun-dation, has been launched in western Kenya by the Walter Reed Project-Kenya, a US DefenseDepartment HIV/AIDS program. It will testthe safety of the candidate vaccine in healthy adults, who have been previously immunizedwith the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vac-cine. Some of the test subjects have also beenexposed to TB but show no signs of the dis-ease.“I am glad that a high burden country likeKenya has been selected in these broader, morecomprehensive efforts in advancing new toolsthat are urgently required in global TB controlefforts, more so in an era where TB-HIV co-infection is a great challenge,” said Ms. Lucy Chesire, a prominent Kenyan TB advocate.A Phase II study is also being conducted atthe University of Cape Town Lung Institute inSouth Africa, where 82 adults with a history of active TB are receiving the vaccine.e vaccine has already been tested on volunteers in the United States, where it wasfound to be safe in healthy adults.e need to develop a new TB vaccine hastaken on new urgency in recent years as thedisease has become the top cause of deathamong those infected with HIV/AIDS, and asnew multi-drug-resistant strains of TB haverendered standard antibiotic treatments inef-fective. In Africa, the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) estimates that people living withHIV are 50 times more likely than HIV-nega-tive people to contract TB. Without treatment,90% of those co-infected with HIV and TBusually die within months.
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RADICATION
GLOBAL MALARIAACTION PLANLAUNCHED
e inter-governmental Roll Back Malaria(RBM) Partnership has developed a Glob-al Malaria Action Plan (GMAP) to reduceglobal deaths from the disease to near zeroby 2015, and subsequently eradicate malariaworldwide.
e plan is the outcome of intense consul-tations involving 30 countries and regionswhere malaria is endemic, 65 international in-stitutions and 250 experts from a wide rangeof fields. RBM projects it could save up to 4.2million lives in the 20 highest burden coun-tries in Africa.e GMAP offers a comprehensive blue-print for reducing malaria and sustaining theeffort until full eradication is achieved. It pro- vides timelines for delivering medicated bednets and drugs to those at risk in the develop-ing world, and outlines a strategy for increas-ing investment in research leading to the even-tual eradication of malaria globally. Researchis projected to cost at least $750 million annu-ally over the next 10 years.e GMAP aims first to control the diseaseby making antimalarials and preventive mea-sures available to all those in endemic areas by 2010. e coverage strategy includes distribut-ing up to 300 million insecticide-treated bednets in 2009 and 2010; spraying 172 millionhouseholds annually with insecticides; provid-ing 25 million courses of Intermittent Preven-tive Treatment (IPTp) for pregnant women;giving 1.5 billion diagnostic tests; and deliv-ering 228 million treatments of artemisinincombination therapy (ACT).In addition, the GMAP outlines a strategy to prevent malaria resurgence once it has beenbrought under control. is includes maintain-ing high levels of preventative interventionseven aer the number of new malaria casesdrops by strengthening local health systems.According to the RBM, eventual eliminationof malaria is a reachable goal, as evidencedby the more than 20 lower burden countriesaround the world that are already poised toeradicate malaria within their borders. In Oc-tober, health experts predicted that Swazilandwould soon join Mauritius as the second coun-try in the Southern Africa Development Com-munity (SADC) to eliminate malaria. In addi-tion, the World Health Organization (WHO)reported in September that Rwanda, Tanzania,Eritrea, and Sao Tomé have dramatically re-duced malaria deaths.
NEW CLINICAL TRIALS FOR TB VACCINEBEGIN IN KENYA & SOUTH AFRICA
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STARBUCKS JOINS (PRODUCT) RED TORAISE MONEY FOR GLOBAL FUND
The Seattle-basedStarbucks CoffeeCompany is the lat-est global multina-tional corporationto sign on to the(PRODUCT) REDcampaign. Under the agreement, Starbuckswill give a portion of its profits on selectedbeverages to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria.
From November 27 to January 2, Starbuckswill give five cents for each holiday beveragesold in the United States and Canada to theGlobal Fund. ereaer, donations will comefrom certain Starbucks products that are des-ignated RED.(PRODUCT) RED is an initiative launchedin 2006 by anti-poverty activist Bono to en-gage the private sector in raising awarenessand funds to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. Com-panies who take on the RED label undertaketo contribute a percentage of their profits tothe Global Fund. So far the initiative has raisedmore than $112 million to support programsin Swaziland, Rwanda, Ghana and Lesotho.“If every single Starbucks customer boughtone RED Holiday Exclusive [beverage] for aweek, we would save 15,000 lives for a year inAfrica,” Starbucks Senior Vice President Mi-chelle Gass told the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Starbucks buys coffee from 10 African coun-tries: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia,Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ugandaand Zambia.“e business of Starbucks with roots in Af-rica and branches all over the world is an idealfit for RED,” said Bono. ‘It’s pretty mind-blow-ing to think that millions of people can buy RED going about their daily lives and in doingso raise millions of dollars to fight AIDS in Af-rica. at’s not a bad hit from your caffeine.”Starbucks’ partnership with Product RED ispart of the company’s Shared Planet corporateglobal citizenship program. Through the pro-gram, Starbucks contributes to coffee-growingcommunities in Africa and Latin America.e Starbucks holiday coffees carrying theRED label are peppermint mocha twist, gin-gersnap latte and espresso truffle.
 
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UGANDA AND MEDICINES FOR MALARIAVENTURE LAUNCH NEW INITIATIVE
Uganda’s Ministry of Health and Medi-cines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a Ge-neva-based NGO that works to developand make available antimalarial drugs,launched a new initiative in Septemberto make artemisinin combination ther-apy (ACT) available to rural Ugandanswho do not have easy access to free gov-ernment-subsidized ACT.
Under the initiative, known as theConsortium for ACT Private Sector Sub-sidy (CAPSS), the Ministry of Health andMMV are working with local private sec-tor partners to ensure that every Ugandan- even those in remote areas - have easy and low cost access to ACT within 24hours of the appearance of symptoms.Effective, rapid treatment of malaria isconsidered critical to the eradication of the disease because it closes the windowof opportunity for mosquitoes to transmitthe parasite from one person to another.It takes just three days of ACT to kill theparasite in a carrier. Endemic in mostparts of the country, malaria kills about320 Ugandans each day, most of themchildren and pregnant women.Before the launch of CAPSS, many ru-ral villagers could not access ACT drugsbecause of poor infrastructure and dis-tance to drugs, which are available for freefrom public health clinics and hospitals.Instead, they have been forced to buy lowcost, but less ineffective, older medicinessuch as cholorquine and artesimininmonotherapies.A single dose of Coartem, the ACTof choice, costs about $8, which is morethan most Ugandans can afford. A recentMMV study disclosed that because of itshigh cost, only about one in 25 private
 A child receives ACT drugs
(Photo: Bonnie Gillespie, Voices for a Malaria FreeFuture)
clinics or pharmacies in Uganda stock Co-artem. e study also stated that it took 11days of an average household income inUganda to purchase a single course of ACTfor a five year old.Under the CAPSS initiative, rural Ugan-dans will be able to obtain a heavily-subsi-dized course of Coartem from private clin-ics and pharmacies for about the same costas a packet of chewing gum.Initial roll-out of the initiative has beenin eight districts in Uganda, affecting aboutthree million people. MMV hopes thatthe project will eventually encompass thewhole country.“is launch is a landmark event,” saidDr. Chris Hentschel, President and CEO of MMV. “e Ministry of Health and MMVhave worked together with the CAPSS part-ners
 
for over a year to get the project off theground. eir close collaboration is onceagain proof that partnerships can work inthe fight against malaria.”CAPSS is modeled aer the program thatled to malaria eradication in Italy, the laststronghold of the disease in Europe. Underthat program, the Italian government madeantimalarial drugs available to everyone by stocking subsidized medications in tobaccoshops around the country.e CAPSS Consortium also includesUganda’s National Drug Authority; Sur-gipharm, a regional pharmacy chain; thenon-profit Malaria Consortium; the Inter-national Dispensary Association (IDA), anon-profit dispenser of essential drugs; andPopulation Services International (PSI), aprivate sector health partnership.MMV is a non-profit organization thatworks to develop and deliver effectiveand affordable antimalarial drugs throughpublic-private partnerships. It is currently managing a portfolio of over 40 antima-larial projects in collaboration with over100 pharmaceutical, academic and country partners.e Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationis the principle funder of MMV, with othercontributers including the governments of the US, the UK, Switzerland and the Neth-erlands. Pharmaceutical partners includeGlaxo-SmithKline (UK), Novartis (Swit-zerland) and Sigma-Tau Industrie Farma-ceutiche (Italy).
Tanzania’s First Lady Mama Salma Kikwetewas honored in November by the US Embas-sy, the Global Health Progress Initiative andthe Abbott Fund for her role in leading thefight in Tanzania to reduce the stigma associ-ated with HIV/AIDS.
“Her Excellency Mama Kikwete’s personalleadership, which she displayed when she waspublicly tested for HIV, and her tireless effortsto improve women’s and girls’ health and edu-cation, make her a global health leader in thefight against HIV/AIDS,” said US AmbassadorMark Green.Mama Kikwete has worked for years withpartners such as Ambassador Green’s wife, SueGreen, to advocate for children and challengeall forms of stigma against those infected or af-fected by HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.At the November event, Ms. Christy Wistar,Vice President of Abbott Fund Tanzania, pre-sented $25,000 to Mama Kikwete to supporta model school in Lindi that provides quality education for girls and children affected by HIV/AIDS. e school currently has facilitiesto board 300 students, including 45 childrenwho have been orphaned or made vulnerableby HIV/AIDS.Speaking on behalf of the Global HealthProgress initiative, Mr. Kevin Walker describedthe healthcare challenges of the 21
st
century asbeing so great that there is “a collective needto bring critical stakeholders together to thetable to transform healthcare realities on theground, especially in Africa.”“Today, government, industry and NGOsare in the same room to discuss healthcare,” headded.e Global Health Progress initiative bringsinternational research-based pharmaceuticalcompanies and global health leaders togetherto improve health in the developing world.Also attending the event were senior Tan-zanian government officials, representativesfrom Mama Kikwete’s Wanawake na Maende-leo Foundation (WAMA), US government of-ficials, and representatives from NGOs work-ing on health programs in Tanzania.e Abbott Fund works in partnership withthe Government of Tanzania and has investedover $50 million since 2001 to improve thecountry’s healthcare infrastructure, increaseaccess to HIV/AIDS testing, care and treat-ment and help orphans and vulnerable chil-dren affected by AIDS.
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