Novartis in the fight against malaria
April 25 is World Malaria Day, an opportunity to reflect on the progress made in finding sustainable solutions for malaria.
Malaria symptoms
Malaria symptoms often include:- fever
- chills
- flu-like illness
Malaria affects nearly 300 million people each year and kills nearly one million, mostly in Africa. Novartis partners with governments, African health authorities, and others. With 40% of the world's population, mostly in poor countries, living at daily risk of contracting this disease, stopping this killer is critical.
Since 2001, through a collaboration with the World Health Organization, Novartis has provided more than 235 million malaria treatments without profit for public-sector use in Africa.
The commitment of Novartis goes beyond providing effective medicines without profit:
- Through the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development we also develop innovative approaches to improve access to treatment for poor patients, looking not only at supply-side needs (availability and quality of healthcare services) but also at demand-side needs (patients requesting the right treatment on time, and financing).
Read more about the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development
- The malaria unit of the Novartis Institutes for Tropical Diseases formed a research consortium to bring together cutting-edge drug discovery at Novartis with world-class malaria biology expertise. With a grant from the Wellcome Trust, the Medicines for Malaria Venture and the Singapore Economic Development Board, the consortium has ambitious goals of identifying new malaria treatments.
Learn more about the Novartis Institutes for Tropical Diseases
Novartis has developed treatments for neglected diseases responsible for enormous suffering and death around the world. Through our access programs, valued at USD 1.26 billion in 2008, we brought new hope to over 74 million patients last year.
Despite these results, one company cannot do it alone. Today is a reminder that if we work together, we can truly make a difference.
“While we make no profits on this product, we have the satisfaction to contribute significantly to the recovery of many people and reduce the enormous economic burden of malaria,”
said Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis.
Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis, recently talked about the Novartis commitment to combating malaria in an interview with Roll Back Malaria.
Also, visit the Malaria Elimination Group (MEG) website to learn more about the global effort to fight malaria. The MEG is a group of 45 international experts who provide guidance and insight to those countries considering, or embarked on, malaria elimination.
