From: Dickens Wasonga
Date: Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 2:37 AM
To: jaluo karjaluo jaluo@jaluo.com
By Dickens Wasonga.
Leading research scientists all over the World are set to present the latest groundbreaking research on preventing, controlling and eliminating malaria , a killer disease and how they have been working to combat the emerging resistance to drugs, insecticides, among others.
This even as the malaria community celebrates 10 years of progress in driving down the unacceptable number of what happened 50 years ago when donor fatigue and a lack of new tools resulted in a resurgence of malaria incidences that took roughly a million lives a year in 2000.
The malaria community is responding by racing to hold on to the gains of the last ten years, while at the same time continuing to develop the tools that could help to eliminate and eventually eradicate malaria.
The Sixth Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Conference, the world’s largest gathering of malaria expert,will be held in Durban, South Africa, from 6-11 October 2013.
Leading scientists from across Africa and around the world who are pushing this groundbreaking research forward, will gather to present their latest findings in the areas of malaria diagnostics, control (including insecticides and mosquito behavior), treatment (drugs),and prevention (including long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying and vaccines).
At the conference, subtitled “Moving Towards Malaria Elimination: Investing in Research and Control,” they will be joined by thousands of other experts, national malaria control programme managers, policymakers, health care workers and community members who will highlight new developments and remaining challenges in the fight to defeat malaria once and for all.
Despite unprecedented advances, malaria continues to infect approximately 219 million people around the world each year.
In 2010, it took the lives of an estimated 660,000 people, the vast majority young children in Africa.
History has shown that decrease in support for fighting malaria in areas where significant progress has been made lead to a resurgence of the disease, potentially undoing years of effort and investment and putting millions of lives at risk.
End.