MaximsNewsNetwork: MALARIA - NEW TREATMENT GUIDELINES, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

MaximsNewsNetwork: 09 March 2010 - UNICEF / United Against Malaria: The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today issued new guidelines for malaria treatment, marking the first time the agency has released guidance on procuring safe and effective medicines to treat the disease.

The agency warned that if not used properly, artemisinin-based combination therapy, known as ACTs, which have transformed treatment in recent years, could become ineffective.

Half of the worlds population is at risk of contracting malaria. Every year, there are 250 million new cases, resulting in 860,000 deaths, the overwhelming majority of which are among African children.

In Africa, it also affects over 50 million pregnant women and is responsible for 10 per cent of all maternal mortalities every year.

The second edition of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria provides evidence-based recommendations for countries on both diagnosis and treatment.

The main changes in this edition from its first, which was published in 2006, are the emphasis on testing before treatment and the addition of a new ACT to the list of recommended treatments.

In 2008, less than 25 per cent of suspected malaria cases were tested in 18 of the 35 African countries which reported results.

Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs), which use a dip stick and a drop of blood, have recently been developed, which can replace microscopy. These new tests can reliably find the malaria parasites in the blood and can be carried out at all levels of the health system, including in community settings.

WHO said that moving towards universal diagnostic testing of malaria is a critical step forward in the fight against the disease since it will allow for the targeted use of ACTs by those who actually have malaria.

The aim, the agency said, is to reduce the emergency and spread of drug resistance, with better management of malaria helping to tackle other problems, like childhood illness and child survival.
....................................... ................. ........................................ ................... ( UNITED NATIONS CHILDRENS FUND: UNICEF TELEVISION ) ..................................... ........................................ ( WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: WHO ) .................... ( UNITED AGAINST MALARIA ) ........................... .................. MaximsNewsNetwork:
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