*EPF107 11/18/2002
World's Scientists Meet in Tanzania to Battle Malaria
(NIH sponsors Five-day conference in Arusha) (870)

By Susan Ellis
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington - More than 1,000 scientists and health professionals, representing 63 countries, 29 of them African, gathered at the Arusha International Conference Center in Tanzania November 17 for a five-day conference to explore every aspect of malaria research and control.
The Arusha conference is sponsored by the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM), funded in part by the U.S. Government's National Institutes of Health (NIH).
MIM is an alliance of science funding agencies, scientists from malaria-endemic countries and their counterparts in industrialized nations, international organizations and non-governmental groups, all dedicated to enhancing malaria research efforts worldwide and building much-needed malaria research capacity in countries hardest hit.
Malaria kills up to three million people a year, with 75 percent of the victim's children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa. Between 400 and 900 million acute febrile episodes occur yearly in Africa in children under the age of five. Surviving children often suffer impairments in cognitive learning and behavioral development after multiple episodes of malaria infection.
The numbers of malaria infections in children are expected to more than double over the next 20 years without better control and prevention strategies, scientists say. In addition, there are hundreds of millions of clinical malaria episodes yearly in adults. While the mortality level among adults is not as high as among children, the economic and social burdens are enormous, they say.
A press release issued by the U.S. Embassy quoted Dr. Gerald Keusch, head of MIM and director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center, which has hosted the conference for the past three years, making welcoming remarks. He read statements from both United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Director-General of the World Health Organization Gro Harlem Brundtland. Both expressed their strong support for the conference and the work of the MIM, recognizing that improving health not only leads to better quality of life for individuals and families, but also leads to enhanced economic productivity and social gains.
Keusch added, "The excitement surrounding this conference is palpable. This year's is the largest conference of its kind ever held."
The MIM director said, "With the recent publication of the gene sequences for both the primary malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and the chief vector for the parasite, Anopheles gambiae, we are poised to move the malaria research field forward dramatically."
He added, "This conference will lead to recommendations on how best to employ these genetic advances to develop new drugs, vaccines and other tools that will help us more effectively prevent and control this dread disease. Critically, we will also take stock of prevention tools that already exist, including bed nets and available drugs, to determine how they can be used even more effectively."
Keusch explained, "We need an 'all technology' approach to tackle this disease. Focusing only on one end of the research spectrum or the other, runs the risk of failure -- something the world community simply cannot afford."
According to the Embassy press release, one of the overarching objectives of the MIM is to consider the most effective means to train the next generation of malaria researchers. The MIM conference will then devote significant attention to identifying specific needs of junior researchers as well as those considering careers in malaria research and related fields.
Dr. Andrew Kitua, director of Tanzania's National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) and chair of the conference's local organizing committee told the conference's opening session, "We are delighted that this conference is taking place in Tanzania. Given that Africans bear the disproportionate burden of this disease, convening the conference on African soil is a boost to all of us in this field.
"As we work to tackle malaria, we must use all of our creativity and intellect, and draw on the best ideas from every corner of the world," said Dr. Kitua.
"We are committed to working as equal partners with our collaborators around the world to tackle this disease, taking advantage of all available technological tools, whether developed here or abroad," he added.
Sharon Hrynkow of NIH said the Tanzanian experience in combating malaria "is a model in many ways for other African countries. With leadership from senior Tanzanian officials, production and distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, one of the most effective prevention tools available, has been dramatically scaled up in recent years."
She added, "At the same time, biomedical research conducted at several locations throughout Tanzania, including at NIMR and the Ifakara Center for Health Development Research, is world class. This research paves the way for the identification of new, potential interventions and contributes to our collective understanding of how malaria spreads through populations and how the disease progresses after infection. The translation of research findings into health care strategies that are employed widely in the health care system is a major priority for Tanzania health officials."
MIM was established in 1997 at the first Pan-African Conference on Malaria held in Dakar, Senegal. The first Secretariat for the MIM was The Wellcome Trust of the United Kingdom. The Fogarty International Center became the Secretariat for the MIM in 1999. Following a vote of MIM sponsors and key African institutions, the Secretariat will move to Sweden at the end of 2002. For more information on MIM activities, see mim.nih.gov.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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