World Malaria to Attract Research, Policy Leaders
Top policy and scientific experts will gather April 25 on campus to discuss the progress being made in the global fight against a deadly disease that affects millions around the world on the first World Malaria Day.
The World Malaria Today symposium, sponsored by the Center for Infectious Disease and the Mortara Center for International Studies, will focus on the policy, vaccines, medications and local grassroots approaches to combating malaria.
“It kills a lot of people. It disables a lot of people,” says Carol Lancaster, director of the Mortara Center. “If it affected us here in the U.S. as much as HIV, it would be a different story in regards to the amount of attention we give to policy that could assist with prevention.”
Paul Roepe, co-director of the Center for Infectious Disease and an organizer of the event, agrees.
“Drug resistance and the rapid spread of HIV have complicated malarial infection further. And because malaria is not a threat to the developed world, there is little interest from drug companies to invest in research and development or more effective and less expensive treatment,” he says.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds, and nearly 40 percent of the world’s population – mostly those living in the world’s poorest countries – are at risk.
Most cases and deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, but Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Europe also are affected.
Though the disease is preventable and treatable, Lancaster says there is still much progress to be made with instituting policies that address the distribution of prophylactics, medications and anti-mosquito bed nets that may prevent people from contracting the disease in the first place. “The more we inform people. The more that awareness can help fight against malaria,” she says.
Not only will external experts take part in the symposium, but scholars from the School of Foreign Service, the Medical and Law Centers and other areas on Main Campus also will participate.
“We were definitely looking to have a broader sense of university engagement with this event,” Lancaster says.
The symposium will begin at 9 a.m. in Gaston Hall, and the day will include panel discussions on the burden of malaria, prevention and cure of the disease and policy challenges and action. Some of the panelists include Adm. Timothy Ziemer, President George W. Bush’s Malaria Initiative coordinator; Dr. Joel Breman, senior scientific adviser at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Fogarty International Center; and Nell Temple Brown of the WHO.
“What makes this conference an extremely unusual event is that it will have top scientists rubbing elbows with top policy-makers,” says Roepe.
Conversations will continue in the New Research Building auditorium in the afternoon with a session focused entirely on recent scientific advances.
Although much of the symposium’s focus is on the aspects of science and policy, education is still a primary focus.
On the same day as the symposium, faculty staff and students will be celebrating the end of spring classes during GU Day. World Malaria Today organizers have planned to set up a table during the festivities with t-shirts that promote the U.N. malaria bed net program and educational materials.
Source: Blue & Gray
April 14, 2008
