MPs call for more cash and initiatives to fight malaria

from The Guardian

Marianne Barriaux

The Guardian

A group of MPs has called for the establishment of financing initiatives to fight malaria, including an advanced market commitment (AMC) to give drug companies an incentive to develop a vaccine for the disease.

At the launch of a malaria all-parliamentary group report yesterday, Hilary Benn, international development secretary, said: "We need to make sure that the right drugs and treatment are available and affordable."

Malaria still kills 3 million people every year, despite the availability of new, effective drugs to fight the disease. Sanofi Aventis and Novartis have both developed artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), which the World Health Organisation has recommended to stop the emergence of resistance.

But these drugs are more expensive, and a lot of the poorest people are unable to afford them. In Ghana, for example, malaria can cost up to 34% of a poor household's income, which in some cases leads to bankruptcy.

Drug companies are also reluctant to invest in developing a drug that will not be profitable. Jon Pender, director of government affairs at GlaxoSmithKline, which is developing a vaccine against malaria and an ACT, said: "We need to look at new ways of working towards research and development for diseases like malaria."

One of the proposals put forward is to set up an AMC for malaria, where donors will commit funding to buy malaria vaccines at a certain price, and companies will therefore be certain there is a market for the product. Mr Pender said this would encourage companies to do more research and development, and also expand their vaccine production facilities.

"The attraction to donor governments is that unless something works, they will not pay anything. All the risk still lies with the industry but at least now there is a promise of a pot of money that wouldn't be there otherwise," Mr Pender said.

Another recommendation is the establishment of a global subsidy, which will pay drug manufacturers for ACTs. The recipient countries will still place their orders with the drug company of their choice, but the subsidy operator will pay most of the money to the manufacturer. This means the countries will have to pay a far lower amount than before. The subsidy is expected to be launched in November.