Malaria and Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz’ name comes up in relation to an article in "The Lancet" critical of the World Bank. (Maybe malaria would be a better application of neo-conservatism than pre-emptive war, but it needs to be applied more adroitly than the venture into Iraq. Yes Paul, you are the man.) A number of scientists criticize and acuse the World Bank of falsifying data suggesting a result not supported by other observers. The Bank took a direct hand in efforts towards reducing the burden of Malaria in India. The Bank apparently dispensed 1.8m dollars worth of chloroquine in an area known for chloroquine resistance and Falciparun Malaria, and then spun the data. It was not clear weather the errors were a deliberate cover up or naiveté on the part of the bank. Medicine is not a bankers’ art.
India turned to the cheaper Chinese drug Artemisinin, a drug found to be partially effective in resistant malaria. The Chinese drug was reintroduced in 1972 based on an ancient herbal remedy taken from the Sweet Wormwood Tree that grows in China.
Chloroquine derives from Quinine and is not so new either. In 1630 the bark of the Chinchona Tree, a local native Indian remedy in Peru, was found to be effective in treating high fever. The British Military used it to their advantage for centuries. It was only during the building of the Panama Canal that doctors established the association of the fever with mosquitoes.
Competing with HIV, starvation, Tuberculosis and other disasters, Malaria has become the leading cause of death and disability in the world. Malaria has doubled in recent years largely from lack of sanitation and public health measures in preventing the disease, measures that were widely practiced during colonial days. War, displaced persons and poverty go hand in hand with the spread of the disease that imposes such a death toll on children. With poverty, ignorance and desperation, pools of water, the breeding ground for mosquitoes, are left un-drained. Bed nets are forgotten and Western concern for insecticides denies the use of DDT. There is no profit for pharmaceutical companies researching newer remedies for malaria, thus the present frustration in treating resistant Falciparun Malaria. The World Bank, Gates, the Merk Foundation and dedicated public health physicians work to make a change.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4939810.stm
India turned to the cheaper Chinese drug Artemisinin, a drug found to be partially effective in resistant malaria. The Chinese drug was reintroduced in 1972 based on an ancient herbal remedy taken from the Sweet Wormwood Tree that grows in China.
Chloroquine derives from Quinine and is not so new either. In 1630 the bark of the Chinchona Tree, a local native Indian remedy in Peru, was found to be effective in treating high fever. The British Military used it to their advantage for centuries. It was only during the building of the Panama Canal that doctors established the association of the fever with mosquitoes.
Competing with HIV, starvation, Tuberculosis and other disasters, Malaria has become the leading cause of death and disability in the world. Malaria has doubled in recent years largely from lack of sanitation and public health measures in preventing the disease, measures that were widely practiced during colonial days. War, displaced persons and poverty go hand in hand with the spread of the disease that imposes such a death toll on children. With poverty, ignorance and desperation, pools of water, the breeding ground for mosquitoes, are left un-drained. Bed nets are forgotten and Western concern for insecticides denies the use of DDT. There is no profit for pharmaceutical companies researching newer remedies for malaria, thus the present frustration in treating resistant Falciparun Malaria. The World Bank, Gates, the Merk Foundation and dedicated public health physicians work to make a change.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4939810.stm
posted by Clancy Hughes | 4/25/2006 07:54:00 AM
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