AFRICA/KENYA - Kenya and Brazil joint proposal World Health Organisation for greater investment in marginal diseases

Saturday, 20 May 2006

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The Health Ministers of Kenya and Brazil have united to propose to the next assembly of the World Health Organisation a resolution for greater investment for marginal diseases. Although the latter affect 90% of the world’s population only 10% of the total is invested in scientific research.
According to the Iniziativa Farmaci per le Malattie Dimenticate of 1,556 new medicines approved between 1975 and 2004, only 1% were destined for marginal diseases which affect mainly tropical countries. They include sleeping sickness in Africa, Chagas in South America leismaniosis, malaria, TB and AIDS.
The problem is that medicines to treat these diseases are either the few, very old and consequently little effective if not toxic, or new and costly. For example TB, the test for diagnosis has not changed in fifty years, it is not perfect but there is no alternative.
For sleeping sickness, which if untreated is mortal, and which WHO says kills 60,000 people every year, one treatment used since 1949 is derived from arsenic, it is painful and can cause the death of the patient.
The director of KEMRI Kenya Medical Research Institute pointed out that marginal diseases affect the poorest people and no new medicines are research because investment for research is expensive.
KEMRI, which has a modern Centre for Disease Control, has 12 metre laboratory and few personnel engaged in research on pathologies such as Kala Azar (form of visceral leishmaniosis), which in Kenya kills 4.000 people every year. The Centre offers treatment for highly dangerous viruses such as the one which causes Ebola. (AP) (20/5/2006 Agenzia Fides; Righe:28; Parole:330)


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