Is elimination of malaria in Africa by 2010 unrealistic? (14)
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Dear Colleagues,
A new tool has just been produced for malaria diagnostic (See http://www.partec.de/partec/news.html).
I think this new Fluorescence microscope could also be a determining tool in the struggle towards malaria elimination. My very optimistic point of view is that affordable rapid diagnosis and efficient vector control are complementary to therapy.
Just imagine if such a test is affordable and optimally used for massive malaria screening in schools. Symptomatic and asymptomatic cases could be rapidly detected and treated. If vector control measures could be concomitantly undertaken, what else would we have to do?
Of course the problem remains that we still have a lot of IFs.
Yours sincerely
Dr. Leopold. G. Lehman
University of Douala - Fac Sciences - BOA
B.P. 2326 Douala - Cameroun
Tel + (237) 343 89 58
Fax + (237) 342 76 12
Mobile + (237) 765 41 89
mailto:lblehman@yahoo.fr
Is elimination of malaria in Africa by 2010 unrealistic? (15)
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Dear Colleagues
The Partec microscope is interesting ... but what about the economics. The price of this piece of equipment is considerably more than $1,000 each (at current EU/$ exchange rates) and the supplies and accessories needed sound like they are going to be rather costly as well. I don't see the public health budgets being able to handle these sorts of cost other than in a very limited way.
I have seen some dialog about the failure to diagnose malaria correctly ... and I am sympathetic to that issue.
But I think we have to rethink the malaria issue in terms of triage ... what can be done now and with the resources that we can reasonably expect to be available.
I am trying to work through an economic model that integrates the various possible interventions in a comrepehsive coherent way, including the costs and the results dimensions. One of the things that is becoming apparent as the model development progresses is the importance of speed in getting cost effective success ... and conversely the importance of slowless in getting to the disastrous existing state of affairs.
I do not have all the information to do a really thorough analysis, but it would appear that almost all the malaria interventions I Africa are underfunded with respect to rapid impact, even though they can disburse substantial funds over a long period ... and in the end ... to little effect.
My understanding of the science suggests that the mosquito and the the malaria parasite dynamic is very fast paced ... and that progress one day is already lost in just a few days. And of course, this slowless also feeds into the terrible problem of resistance that rapidly evolves when there is a constant cycle of re-infection ... and a constant rebuilding of the mosquito and the malaria parasite populations.
At some point, I would very much like some of the experts in the field to review the work I am doing ... it is in an Excel spreadsheet file, and pretty large. Please let me know if you are interested.
Sincerely
Peter Burgess
Tr-Ac-Net Inc.
mailto:profitinafrica@gmail.com