Malaria on the Rise (2)
-----------------------
The problem with Malaria is that those who are likely to die of
malaria are the voiceless poor. The claim that Artemisinin-based
combination is expensive is not true. In Tanzania artemisinin is
a weed growing in much of the country. Some chemists have said
that a particular species found in one region of that country
has the highest concentration of the key ingredient of all other
species around the world. There is one settler (Swiss) who is
making a fortune selling the dried leaves to a company in
France.
We can all understand why a drug used by just a few people is
expensive. But even if the production of this drug is expensive,
the cost should be offset by its mass production. You have mil-
lions of people diagnosed with malaria every year. When WHO was
asked why they would not support poor countries to produce these
drugs they said that they are worried that it is too good a drug
to let lose! I saw the article in New York Times about two years
ago.
Those who control the world resources can't imagine anything
that can lead to so much economic freedom. Africa is the only
place in the world where we are made to produce things nobody
really needs (coffee, tobacco, tea) and import everything that
is essential for life, including medicine. If Tanzanians replace
their tobacco with artemisinin they will be able to sell it to a
pharmaceutical industry to produce the drug. The farmer will
earn a decent income that is not controlled by WTO. Because the
drug is produced in the country where it can be expected to be
reasonably cheap. In any case the farmers will have some income
to buy it.
Malaria is a number one killer in Tanzania. If we are able to
make a significant progress in treating it effectively, there
will be more healthy people leading productive lives. Now, this
is unacceptable to World Bank, IMF.
Christine Minja-Trupin
mailto:ctrupin@mmc.edu