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Nigeria: Pfizer Unveils Malaria Master Plan For Africa
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Daily Champion (Lagos)
16 November 2007
Posted to the web 16 November 2007
Florence Udoh
Lagos
MULTINATIONAL pharmaceutical company, Pfizer has launched a new programme designed to help African countries fight the scourge of malaria. The programme, a 5-year master plan, is being introduced just as the company intensifies its research efforts to reduce the burden of malaria which reportedly kills an estimated one million people every year in the continent, most of whom are children under 5 years old.
The company's plans were announced recently by the company's Regional Director for the East, Central and Anglo-Lusophone West Africa (ECAWA) region, Miss Ngozi Edozien at the launch of Camoquine Plus a new artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) consisting the Camoquine and artesunate, an artemisinin derivative.
According to Miss Edozien, the five-year programme tagged "mobilize against malaria" would involve an investment of several millions of dollars. She disclosed that Pfizer was working in collaboration with the Gates Foundation and Clinton Initiative on the programme. Already, she said, the pilot for the programme had kicked off in three countries - Ghana , Senegal and Kenya . Nigeria is expected to benefit from the results of the projects.
Apart from being the first country to launch Camoquine Plus in the continent, a development she described as part of the company's innovative programme towards malaria control in Africa. "Pfizer in is a company that is focused on innovation.
We are known for many disease areas such as cardiovascular disease, pain, anti-infective among others and we are also proud to be known in the field of malaria. In fact, Malaria makes up one of our research target for the future. We count malaria as one of our areas of continuing research in addition to our other strength.
"With these programme, Pfizer is indeed trying to close the treatment gap through medicines, partnership, through innovation and quality. This malaria initiative as well as the launch of Camoquine Plus is just an addition in our various partnership programmes around the world - from the diflucan partnership, international trachoma to our global health fellows partnership," she further said.
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Miss Edozien further announced the company's plan to introduce a combination of its powerful once daily antibiotic, Zithromax and Chloroquine to further boost its quest in the fight against malaria, adding that the new drug was already at the clinical trial stage.
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