E-DRUG: Be a Founding Member in the March of Washingtons
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The World Health Organization estimates that of the one million deaths that
occur from malaria each year, up to 200,000 would be avoidable if the drugs
were effective, of good quality and used correctly:
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/2003/fs275/en/ This is why Hedge
Funds vs. Malaria and Africa Fighting Malaria recently launched the March of
Washingtons - the first and only grassroots effort to buy and test malaria
drugs. We want to make those 200,000 deaths disappear and help bring the
other 800,000 down to zero by making sure every African child has access to
safe and effective drugs.
Here's the idea: George Washington had malaria. George Washington is on the
one dollar bill. For one dollar we can buy a good quality and effective
malaria treatment for one child AND conduct quality control testing of
malaria drugs on the market. Fake and substandard malaria drugs are a big
problem in Africa. AFM's recent research found that 35% of antimalarials
sold in six major African cities failed basic quality control tests:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/health/13glob.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
This means a mother buying malaria medicine for her child has a 65% chance
that it will work - we need to bring that up to 100%.
This is your invitation to become a founding partner in the March of
Washingtons. We'll publish an official March of Washingtons press release
and launch on Monday, August 4, 2008 listing the first 100 organizations to
join. All you need to do is write to africa@fightingmalria.org and sign
your organization on.
Thanks,
Philip Coticelli
Africa Fighting Malaria
http://fightingmalaria.org
P.S. You can read about the results of AFM's work to raise awareness of
substandard malaria drugs in Kenya and Rwanda here
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g9in0Ta9xUL0-FhsUE3jI7eszTug and here
http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13545&article=6710. Help us keep
the momentum going - join the March of Washingtons.