Norvatis launches new coartem for malaria

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

Malaria accounts for more than one million deaths around the world each year. In Africa alone, it is estimated that a child dies every 60 seconds from malaria. Nine out of 10 of these deaths occur in sub Saharan Africa where the vast majority of malaria-related deaths take place in children.

To address the ever growing cases of malaria, Norvatis has launched a new anti-malarial drug, Coartem® 80/480 (artemether/lumefantrine 80 mg/480 mg), for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in adults and older children who weigh above 35kg or above 12 years old.

Models pose during unveiling of  Coatem 80/480

In a bid to enhance patient compliance, the full course of treatment for malaria has been reduced from 24 tablets to six tablets translating into a 75% reduction in pill burden.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Norvatis provides innovative healthcare solutions that addresses the evolving needs of patients and societies. 

According to a statement from Norvatis, the drug has been registered by the Pharmacy and poisons board in Kenya and has already been launched in Nigeria and Angola. Kenya is the 3^rd country in Africa to launch Coartem 80/480. Other countries that have registered Coartem 80/480 include Uganda and Ghana.

The Coartem 80/480 was first registered in Switzerland by a stringent health authority, the Swiss Medic. Since 2006, Kenya has received over 75 million treatments of Coartem, making it one of the largest recipients of the drug.

Dr Nathan Mulure/Photo courtesy of Novartis

Dr. Nathan Mulure, the Novartis Medical Manager for Africa said, “Malaria is highly preventable and curable, yet it is still one of the most deadly diseases in developing countries. The fewer tablets offer a convenient solution for busy lives. The launch of Coartem® 80/480 in Kenya marks another milestone in the fight against Malaria, and will benefit patients with a convenient and high quality treatment for malaria.” 

Novartis is the first company to develop a World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalified child friendly medication, the Coartem Dispersible.  Dispersible tablets easily break up in water, are sweet and easy to take. Since 2009, over 200 million dispersible tablets have been delivered the vast majority to African countries.

Coartem is the only Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ACT (a combination of two or more drugs one of which one is an Artemisinin derivative) in the United States of America and the first one to be approved by the European Medical Evaluating Agency (EMEA). Artemisinin is a compound derived from the sweet wormwood plant and has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fever.  Studies have shown that using two or more drugs in combination has the potential to delay the development of resistance.PYM

Pregnant? 4 could save your life

By MELUSE KAPATAMOYO

In most African societies, pregnancies are rarely planned, and as a result it takes women a few months before they can make that all important first trip to a health institution for Ante-natal care (ANC).

However, while the woman waits to come to terms with being pregnant, she may be putting her life and that of her unborn child at risk.

Effective ANC which includes a minimum of four visits to a health care centre, has been cited as an effective way of reducing mortality in mothers and children.

A pregnant woman attending ante-natal/ Photo by UNICEF

Dr Mulindi Mwanahamuntu, a gynaecology consultant at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) said the four visit minimum requirement as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is enough for a clinician to identify at least 80 percent of problems that occur in a pregnancy.

“This recommendation is a compromise from having a woman coming every other week to burden the health-system. Sometimes the clinician will ask the woman to be coming to the clinic every other week depending on the problem she may have. But a minimum of four visits has been shown and proven to reduce maternal and child deaths,” he said.

“Opportunities for Africa’s Newborns”, a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) states that to achieve the full life-saving potential that ANC promises for women and babies, four visits providing essential evidence-based interventions should be adhered to.

The essential elements of ANC include identification and management of obstetric complications such as pre-eclampsia, tetanus toxoid immunisation, intermittent, preventive treatment for malaria during pregnancy (IPTp), and identification and management of infections including HIV, syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

“ANC is also an opportunity to promote healthy behaviours such as breast feeding, early postnatal care, and planning for optimal pregnancy spacing,” says the report.

Zambia is among countries in Southern Africa battling maternal and child mortality, caused by lack of commitment by pregnant women to attend ante-natal where diseases such as malaria, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV can be screened early.

WHO estimates that 900,000 babies die as stillbirths during the last twelve weeks of pregnancy. And babies, who die before the onset of labour, or antepartum (bleeding) stillbirths, account for two-thirds of all stillbirths in countries where the mortality rate is greater than 22, per 1,000 births-accounting for nearly all African countries.

Four ante-natal visits could save the life of your unborn child

In addition, maternal mortality remains equally high in many countries too. In Zambia, the UN organisation estimates 830 maternal deaths per 100, 000 live births accounting for one in every 120 pregnant women.

And according to Dr Mwanahamuntu, in Zambia, despite 94 percent of women especially those in urban areas attending ante-natal, less than 75 percent of them deliver in some form of health institution.

“In this case, the whole purpose of the earlier ante-natal visits is defeated. For rural areas where visits drop to almost zero, simple conditions that can be picked up by clinicians are missed. If we are to win this battle and succeed, we must emphasise on institutional delivery of babies. Child birth is a physiological undertaking and women should not die from something that should be normal.” said Dr Mwanahamuntu. PYM

Bush aids Zambia's cervical cancer fight.

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

The threat of cervical cancer on Zambian women has reached alarming levels and need urgent and concerted efforts to ensure that awareness, testing and treatment of the disease becomes top priority on government and its cooperating partners agenda.

Zambia has the second highest cervical cancer incidence in the world, despite being one of the few countries in Africa with a Cancer disease hospital. Guinea takes top spot.

For hundreds of women at risk and those with the disease, the recent visit to Zambia by former US president George W. Bush put into the spotlight the importance of creating cervical cancer screening opportunities.

Bush was in Zambia to reinforce the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon campaign on HIV and cancer which he launched in December 2011.

The campaign is aimed at increasing the availability of cervical cancer screening, treatment and breast care education.

While in the country, Bush spent four days putting his hands to work, renovating a clinic in Kabwe used for cancer screening and emphasizing the message “If women could be saved from HIV/AIDS and yet die from cancer, then life has not been saved.”





He also held talks with President Michael Sata at state house and met with first lady Dr Christine Kaseba for the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon campaign at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Zambia’s only referral hospital.

Cervical Cancer Prevention Programme in Zambia (CCPPIZ) co-director, Dr Mulindi Mwanahamuntu had this to say about Bush’s visit to Zambia; “The women were saved from dying due to AIDS by George W Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) initiative which brought ARVs to public health hospitals beginning from the mid 2000s. Sadly, a lot of these women whose lives were being prolonged by costly ARVs were once again beginning to die from cervical cancer which appears to be more serious in women with immunity problems.

For PEPFAR to allow us in Zambia to use some of the ARV budget to screen women and stop deaths from cervical cancer means that an entire loop is getting sealed. I think Bush must have been a happy man to see first hand how Zambia has created health promoting systems initiated by his kindness and that of the American people.”

Since the start of the CCPPIZ programme in 2005, more than 81, 000 women have been screened for cervical cancer. The organisation intends to embark on a vaccination programme on young women between the ages eight and 12 who are not yet sexually active.

George Bush back in Zambia

Former US president George W. Bush (l)  being welcomed by Zambia's Vice President Guy Scott (r) upon arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka, on June 30, 2012. Bush is in Zambia to promote his foundation's health initiative to improve cervical cancer prevention and treatment programs in Africa.

Kenya to host first African Epilepsy Conference

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

Come June 21 to 23, 2012, The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) will host the first African Epilepsy Congress in Nairobi, Kenya.

More than 40 speakers will present a range of topics over the three day period on recent scientific and clinical developments in epilepsy.

The conference is a firm commitment by African countries to improve the quality of life of people with epilepsy through support of education, research, knowledge dissemination and patient care.

The conference, among others, will focus on diagnosis, management and special epilepsy populations, as well as addressing management gap and research in Africa. The way forward in the African Region and primary healthcare will also be tackled.

Zambia will be represented by Anthony Zimba, Epilepsy Association of Zambia President who is also the IBE Africa region vice president.

Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent neurological disorders worldwide with no age, racial, social class, national nor geographical boundaries says the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It estimates that there over 50 million sufferers in the world today and of that number, 85 percent live in developing countries. Globally, an estimated 2.4 million new cases occur each year.

Zambia to host Corporate Africa Partnerships conference

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

The 5th Corporate Africa Partnerships for Prevention and Care Health Conference is headed for Zambia this year under the theme “Building sustainable partnerships between Africa’s private and public sectors.

The interactive session will see leading investors and their suppliers’ chain engage in dialogue with the public sector and their developmental partners about the ingredients necessary to build lasting win-win partnerships which will generate tangible and measurable benefits to impact upon prevention and care in Zambia.

The panel will also table the conditions that need to be in place for mutual trust and a thriving environment conducive to partnerships, commitment and heightened expectations of both private and public sectors.

Corporate Africa Health Conference and Reports partners with foreign investors in health and medicare, governments, international and developmental agencies, including UNAIDS, World Health Organisation, and global and national business coalitions on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.

It has risen to become the leading health intelligence and thought vehicle in the prevention of infectious diseases in Africa where it offers ideas and solutions to increase the efficacy of health in the private and public sectors, and for sustainable development investments in human capital, drug transfer and therapy.

The Zambia 2012 conference will be held from 1-3 July, under the patronage of the Ministry of Health and chaired by the National Medical Association.

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America seeks to wipe-out Zambia's malaria cases

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

Zambia is among African countries that have entered into a partnership with the United States of America to combat malaria incidence in women and children, a new report has announced.

The recently released Malaria Operational Plan (MOP) Zambia, says through the Global Health Initiative (GHI), the partnership would help Zambia scale up prevention and treatment interventions for malaria, the country’s top killer which accounts for about 50,000 deaths every year.

The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) is a core component of the GHI, along with HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. The GHI is a comprehensive effort seeking to reduce the burden of disease and promote healthy communities and families around the world.

In December 2006, Zambia was selected as one of the benefiting countries to the five-year, $1.2 billion, PMI to rapidly scale-up malaria prevention and treatment interventions in high-burden countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Since then, Zambia has received approximately $79 million in PMI funding. But, although the country has recorded an improvement, malaria continues to be a burden and remains the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the country.

The PMI seeks to reduce malaria-associated mortality by 70 percent compared to pre-initiative levels in the 15 original PMI countries.

By 2014, PMI has committed itself to assisting Zambia achieve the following successes in populations at risk for malaria;  85 percent of pregnant women would have slept under an Insecticide-Treated Net (ITN), while a further 85 percent of  houses in geographic areas targeted for Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) will have been sprayed.

In addition, 90 percent of households with a pregnant woman or child under five will own at least one ITN, and 85 percent of women who have completed a pregnancy in the last two years will have received two or more doses of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTp) during that pregnancy.

Furthermore, the report states that by the same year, 85 percent of government health facilities would have Artemisinin- based combination therapy (ACTs) available for treatment of uncomplicated malaria, while 85 percent of children under five with suspected malaria will have received treatment with ACTs within 24 hours of onset of their symptoms.

It is expected that by 2014, PMI would have purchased 440,000 replacement long lasting nets (LLINs) and distributed them free-of-charge through ante-natal clinics, and the Zambian Anglican Council (ZAC) with assistance from Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV).

 About 70 percent of women in each of Zambia’s nine provinces who have completed a pregnancy in the last two years will have received two or more doses of IPTp during that pregnancy by the same year. 

 “The PMI will achieve this by increasing the demand for and delivery of IPTp through strengthened focused antenatal care (FANC) and behavior change communication (BCC) campaigns at both the community and national levels."