Anti-malaria war gets $4.1m from Gates

from The East African

THE REGIONAL MALARIA RESEARCH Institute — African Malaria Network Trust (Amanet) — has received $4.1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to do more research on the tropical killer disease. The funding will also be used for building institutional capacity in health research ethics (HRE) across sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Charles Wanga, communications officer of Amanet, told The EastAfrican last week that the four-year grant would promote and foster discussion, research and publications that highlight African malaria perspectives.

Dr Wanga said the project would focus on the strengthening HRE review processes across sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in institutions undertaking malaria intervention trials.

The funding will help ensure the research undertaken meets international ethical standards, and that developed products will be licensed and made available to needy African communities. By creating ethical awareness and improving the ethical review process among African health researchers and members of institutional ethics review committees, the project will go a long way in protecting the rights and wellbeing of research participants, especially of highly vulnerable groups and individuals.

Prof Wen Kilama, managing trustee of Amanet, said the bilateral and multilateral funding agencies, some African governments, and philanthropists such as the Gates Foundation are rising to the growing malaria challenge by significantly increasing malaria research funding, including the development of new tools to fight malaria. Prof Kilama said the studies need to involve those most vulnerable to malaria, including infants, young children and pregnant women; the rights and wellbeing of the research participants must be protected as well.

“Health research ethics is a major concern, especially in African, where trial participants are particularly vulnerable due to high disease rates, low education rates, rampant poverty, and frequent human-rights abuses,” he said adding that ethical review systems, regulatory bodies, research and health care systems must be strengthened.

Amanet, a pan-African, non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Dar es Salaam, was started in 1995 as the African Malaria Vaccine Testing Network with the primary goal of preparing Africa in planning and conducting malaria vaccine trials.

In 2002, the AMVTN was succeeded by Amanet to reflect a widened scope.