Los Angeles Times Editorial Suggest Way to Combat Maleria More Effectively

Editorial: Create malaria fund to lower drug cost
One of the most effective ways of battling malaria in Africa would be for wealthy countries to create a fund to purchase anti-malaria drugs developed from the Chinese herb wormwood, this Los Angeles Times editorial argues. By creating a global purchasing pool, the price for the now-expensive drugs could be lowered dramatically, the newspaper writes. Los Angeles Times (8/15)

The newest malaria miracle cure is best used as a cocktail with other drugs, called artemisinin combination therapy. But ACT costs more than legions of Africa’s rural poor can afford. And without a market of consumers able to buy it, farmers outside China have little incentive to start growing the artemesia plant, while scientists aren’t encouraged to invest in finding a synthetic substitute and manufacturers have no motivation to increase production of the finished drug.

What is needed is a global purchasing pool, separate from the one proposed to spur investment in vaccine research. Rather than guaranteeing a future market for a potential vaccine, the second fund would be tapped now to pay for an already existing cure.

The Washington-based Institute of Medicine, an independent organization that advises the U.S. government on health policy, last year proposed just such a plan. In a report written by a Nobel Prize-winning economist, it called on international organizations and world leaders to contribute $300 million to $500 million a year to a centralized procurement agency to buy ACTs at competitive prices, then resell them at lower prices to public and private distributors in countries battling malaria.

<a href=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-maldrugs15aug15,0,5592730.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorialsFUll Story