Medicines for Malaria Ventures (MMV), says it is working with various organisations to develop new combination therapies to address the challenges of antimalarial drug resistance. MMV, an organisation that aims to reduce the burden of malaria in disease endemic countries, said the new therapies will be done by identifying molecules with novel mechanisms of action and antimalarial activity against all known resistant parasite strains. According to a statement issued by Ready to Beat Malaria, a non-governmental organisation, MMV said the goal is also to have simpler dosing regimens to improve patient compliance to treatment, adding that it will in turn protect against the development of drug resistance in the future.
The statement also identified malaria as the number one killer in Borno State, noting that the eight-year Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east has had a huge impact on malaria in the state, destroying and damaging 60 per cent of the health facilities. MMV further stated that the insurgency in the North-east have led to the displacement of 3.7 million people, all of whom are at risk of malaria. Anti-malarial drug resistance has been a threat to malaria control and has significant implications for global public health. Resistance has a major impact on the cost of global malaria control due to the need for new drugs and the costs of treatment failures.
