Malaria

expand all
collapse all

Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: "In addition to recording the second most malaria deaths of any country in Southeast Asia, Myanmar is a regional epicenter of spreading resistance to vital anti-malarial drugs. The situation is worst in ethnic areas in the eastern, western and northern border regions, which receive little or no government health services and are inaccessible to large-scale international efforts. These regions are populated with displaced and vulnerable communities and rife with fake anti-malaria drugs, contributing to a growing reservoir of infection and a ?perfect storm? of conditions to encourage increasing resistance to key artemisinin-based drugs. With in-depth mentoring and technical support from CPI, our local partners have conducted the only peer-reviewed surveys in this inaccessible region, demonstrating that malaria accounts for nearly half of all deaths, with a disproportionate impact on children and pregnant women: Nearly 15% of children will die before their fifth birthday, one-third from malaria, and malaria is the leading cause of maternal anemia, stillbirth, premature birth and low birth weight.... For malaria-related articles and reports, see links at right"
Source/publisher: Community Partners International
Date of entry/update: 2014-08-20
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: "Malaria is one of the major public health problems with around 40.6 million people at risk. Although much of the population is at risk of malaria, the most vulnerable are non-immune migrant workers occupied with gem-mining in forests, logging, agriculture and construction. Annually, around 200,000 confirmed malaria cases and around 1200 malaria deaths are recorded every year. The Pf percentage of reported malaria cases are more than 75%. Malaria transmission in the country is perennial. About 60% of the total malaria cases are reported from forest areas. ITNs / LLINs are used as a main tool for vector control. IRS has been applied selectively to control epidemics only. For case detection in the areas not covered by microscopy, the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) is used. Around 40% of the malaria cases are seeking treatment through the private sector...Myanmar has reported an increase in the number of confirmed malaria cases from 120,029 in 2000 to 447,073 in 2008 and 414,008 in 2009 respectively (Fig.1). This increase in reported confirmed cases was mainly due to increase in the case finding activities (including use of RDT). As a result reported number of probable malaria cases are decreasing. The percentage of P. falciparum cases has increased from 80% in 2000 to 97% in 2008 and 91% in 2009 (as almost all RDTs are used to detect Pf cases only). The number of malaria admissions and malaria attributed deaths declined from 85,409 and 2752 respectively in 2000 to 47,772 and 972 respectively in 2009. Amongst inpatient admissions, the proportion of malaria cases declined from 16% in 2000 to 6-7% and of all admissions in 2008-09. These statistics suggest that there is some improvement in the malaria situation in the country. However, the reasons behind these trends, such as improved diagnostic practices or the effect of increased use of ACTs (Fig2), are not clear. Between 2007 and 2009 2.28 million ITNs were delivered(Fig3)..."
Source/publisher: World Health Organisation (WHO)
Date of entry/update: 2011-09-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: SMRU was established in 1986 in Shoklo. It is a field station of the faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, and is part of the Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit (MORU) supported by the Wellcome Trust (UK)... Location: The S.M.R.U base is in Mae Sot and the activities extend to the populations living along the Thai-Myanmar border... Beneficiaries: Population living along the border, including refugees and other migrants... Objectives: 1. To treat and care for patients with malaria.... 2. To define the epidemiology, entomology, and clinical features of malaria in this area of low (unstable) transmission, and to determine the best methods of prevention and treatment... 3. To advise the Thai Medical Institutions and the Non Governmental Organisations involved in the treatment and the control of malaria in the South East Asia region. Project Objectives: The projects are designed to be of direct benefit to the local community, and also to provide information useful to other populations living in malaria endemic areas elsewhere in the world through publications in mainstream international scientific journals... Project Areas: 1. Malaria in Pregnancy and Infancy; 2. Malaria treatment studies; 3. Entomology; 4. HIV/Aids awareness and prevention of vertical transmission; 5. Nutrition and Anaemia; 6. Laboratory studies; 7. Control of malaria and detection of epidemics along the border..." ...Very useful site with news, abstracts of publications -- not full text, unfortunately)-- Substantial "Laboratory Manual for Laboratory Technician Training" and other training documents in Burmese and English..."
Source/publisher: Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU)
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-05
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English, Burmese
more
Description: * 1 History * 2 Symptoms * 3 Mechanisms of the disease o 3.1 Mosquitoes o 3.2 The malarial parasite * 4 Diagnosis * 5 Treatment * 6 Prevention and disease control o 6.1 Prophylactic drugs o 6.2 Mosquito eradication o 6.3 DDT Insecticide o 6.4 Economics o 6.5 Mosquito Nets and Prevention of mosquito bites o 6.6 Vaccination * 7 Social and economic impacts of malaria * 8 References * 9 External links o 9.1 Vaccine and other research o 9.2 DDT o 9.3 Animations, images and photos
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-20
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
expand all
collapse all

Individual Documents

Description: "Located on a strategic cross-roads in Asia, the borderlands of Burma (Myanmar)1 have witnessed extraordinary social and political upheaval during the past two decades. However, unlike in the adjoining states of China and Thailand, malaria morbidity and other health crises have remained at internationally high and often epidemic levels. It is a legacy that exemplifies much about the state failures of contemporary Burma. It is also a record of humanitarian malaise that, with too few exceptions, reflects the failure of key stakeholders in both Burma and the international community to prioritize health needs and conflict resolution in one of Asia’s poorest lands. Far too late, a notion of humanitarian crisis has developed that in 2006 witnessed briefings about Burma at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the basis that, along with political impasse, the transmission of malaria, HIV and tuberculosis across international frontiers could pose a threat to regional peace and security.2 In reality, however, this is an analysis of humanitarian emergency that could have been made at any time in any of the preceding 20 years. In Burma, the humanitarian and political challenges have long been inextricably inter-linked. As the UNSC briefings highlight, any discussion about health issues in Burma is invariably tinged with controversy and, very often, doubt. There is a paucity of research in many health and socio-economic fields. But about the national significance of malaria, there can be no uncertainty. Data from every part of the country has long since pointed to the disease as Burma’s pre-eminent health challenge. Official statistics presently record malaria as the leading cause of both morbidity and mortality among the country’s ten priority diseases, with incidence rates of 11.1/1000 and 3.65/100,000 respectively.3 Plasmodium falciparum has been identified as the cause of around 80 per cent of the 600- 700,000 cases and 3,000 deaths reported annually.4 And a recent study estimated that Burma accounts for around 7 per cent of cases reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the Southeast Asia region (including India), but 53.6 per cent of all malariarelated deaths.5 The difficulties, however, in addressing Burma’s malaria challenges go very much further. Malaria is acknowledged to be endemic in 284 of the country’s 324 townships, with over 70 per cent of the 54 million population at risk.6 But in vast areas of the countryside there is little access to basic health care, and it is estimated by the UN that only 25-40 per cent of malaria suspects currently seek treatment in the public sector.7 Indeed one UNICEF estimate in the early 1990s claimed that the real levels of malaria incidence could be up to seven times higher than WHO figures.8 Against this backdrop, multi-drug resistant malaria has become widespread, and essential combination drug treatments are frequently beyond the reach of the most at risk populations. As in all countries, the recorded incidence of malaria in Burma often reflects local pockets of emergency that can be attributed to particular environmental or socioeconomic factors. About 60 per cent of recorded cases, for example, are considered to be related to “forestry work”. 9 However mapping on a national scale reveals a much more disturbing reality, explaining why malaria has remained so endemic and with such high levels of morbidity.10 The areas of greatest risk exactly match the rugged horseshoe of highlands that surround the central Irrawaddy plains. In these areas, four characteristics stand out: they are borderlands adjoining the neighbouring states of Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand; they are heavily forested; they are inhabited by ethnic minority peoples; and they are the scenes of among the longest-running and most diverse insurgencies to be found anywhere in the world. The consequences of such frontier-land volatility have been profound, underpinning many of the health and political crises in the country. For decades, many different state and quasi-state actors have competed for authority in the borderlands. However during the era of Gen. Ne Win’s isolationist Burmese Way to Socialism (1962-88), public health care never extended to more than one third of the country.11 Meanwhile many of the borderlands remained under the de facto control of different armed opposition forces, including the Kachin Independence Organisation, Karen National Union, New Mon State Party and Shan State Progress Party. Each of these different authorities administered its own system of field clinics and health programmes. But whether in government or antigovernment areas, clinical diagnosis and appropriate treatment were frequently unavailable for most communities. Equally serious, there was no real coordination on public education nor on national and international responses to disease. Every kind of drug – both real and fake – entered Burma through blackmarkets that flourished along the frontiers with Thailand, China, India and Bangladesh. This proved especially damaging in the case of malaria. As research by the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU) has demonstrated, conditions in Burma’s borderlands became very conducive to high levels of malaria infection and the spread of drug resistance.12 Throughout the Ne Win era, there remained little reliable data on humanitarian conditions in most regions of Burma. When media headlines occurred, it was only the lucrative trade in illicit opium and, from the mid-1980s, Karen refugees fleeing the fighting that alerted international attention to the endemic state of conflict in what had become one of the world’s most hermetic lands. Indeed so non-aligned had Burma become that in 1979 Ne Win even withdrew the country from the Non-Aligned Movement. But the seriousness of malaria incidence could never be disguised, and by 1988 the number of officially recorded malaria-related deaths had grown to over 4,000.13 It remained impossible, however, to put such statistics into any kind of national context. As any traveller in Burma’s borderlands could witness, malaria was the major cause of illness and death on far greater scale, evidenced by seasonal epidemics and the treatment of increasing numbers of refugees in neighbouring Thailand. A new landscape in both health needs and perspectives emerged following the 1988 collapse of Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party and the assumption of power by the present-day State Peace and Development Council ([SPDC] formerly State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC]). Three factors, especially, began to focus attention on the urgency and details of Burma’s health crises. The first was the accelerating departure of refugees and migrant workers into neighbouring countries. There can only be guesstimates about the exact scale of population movement since 1988 in what has become a constant state of cross-border human flow across some of the least regulated frontiers in Asia. But by the beginning of the 21st century, there were around 150,000 refugees (mainly ethnic Karen, Karenni and Mon) recorded in official camps in Thailand where there were also over one million migrant workers from Burma – both those described as “legal” and those “illegal”.14 In India, too, the refugee population is presently estimated as in excess of 50,000 (predominantly ethnic Chin), while during 1991-92 the Rakhine State border was the scene of one of the largest refugee exoduses in modern times when over 200,000 minority Muslims (known as Rohingyas) crossed into Bangladesh.15 In the following years, most of the Muslim refugee population was resettled back across the border under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. However the conditions of socio-political volatility along the Bangladesh and Burma’s other borders have generally continued. Such intervention by UN agencies leads to the second important change after 1988: the growing engagement by international aid organisations in and around Burma. The refugee populations along the Thai and Bangladesh borders have remained a principal focus of international concern. However from the early 1990s the new military government of the SLORC-SPDC also began allowing international aid agencies access to many off-limits parts of Burma. As the first international analysts conducted research in a quarter of a century, they swiftly began providing data confirming what health workers in the country had always known but could rarely address: the close links between conflict, public health failures and humanitarian suffering. In the early 1990s, the scale of its discoveries led UNICEF to frame the concept of Burma’s “Silent Emergency”, considering an appeal for “humanitarian ceasefires” to deliver relief aid to conflict-affected parts of the country.16 UNICEF’s strategies for “corridors of peace” through the borderlands remained on the drawing boards. But with the impetus of international analysis, public health statistics in Burma began to show more accuracy. In 1992 the official infant mortality rate was doubled to 94 per 1,000 live births, while there were estimates that the figure in conflict areas of the Karen and Shan States could be as high as 200 to 300 per 1,000 live births.17 As the new health data showed, children under five were accounting for nearly half the deaths annually recorded in Burma, due largely to a few treatable or preventable illnesses including malaria, pneumonia, measles and water-born diseases.18 Confirmatory evidence of the health complexities in the field then accelerated from the mid-1990s with the increasing access of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) into Burma. Their arrival coincided with the spread of ceasefires between the SLORC-SPDC government and a growing number of armed ethnic opposition groups. For the first time in three decades, day-to-day fighting halted in many conflict-torn areas, especially in the borderlands with China. In a break with past isolation, by the end of the 20th century around 20 international NGOs were registered inside Burma working on health issues.19 Their dynamic mirrored a resurgence in energy by local community-based organisations, 5 many of which also have an emphasis on health. Indeed, by one estimate, the 1990s saw the fastest decade in NGO growth in Burma’s history.20 It is important to stress that, throughout this period, the countrywide picture was by no means stable or even. In particular, there were several borderland areas where armed conflicts still continued. But whether due to humanitarian concerns inside or outside of Burma, this increased international focus on health issues meant that many of the particular causes and localities of health emergency became better identified. In the case of malaria, the borderlands with Bangladesh, India and Thailand became recognised as particular epicentres for high levels of malaria incidence. This led to increasing collaboration between international organisations and public health authorities in both Burma and abroad. New approaches were very clearly needed. A noteworthy example was Medecins Sans Frontieres-Netherlands (MSF-N) which, following its 1992 entry into Burma, prioritized malaria-related morbidity among vulnerable populations in the Rakhine State borderlands, treating over 100,000 malaria patients annually by the turn of the century.21 During the same years, the SMRU continued its anti-malarial programmes along the Thai border together with NGOs and the Thai government, helping reduce the incidence of P. falciparum by over 90 per cent in the refugee camps and surrounding regions.22 Recognition of these unaddressed “gateway” dynamics in the incidence of disease proved the final factor in changing perceptions about the nature of humanitarian crises in Burma. Neither conflict nor malaria, however, was the main catalyst for concern but HIV/AIDS which, during the 1990s, became a major health challenge throughout the sub-Asian region. With an international frontier-line of 3,650 miles, it was always likely that the patterns of human flow to and from Burma would be critical. Many worst fears were soon realised. From the first HIV sentinel surveillance begun in 1992, the number of officially estimated cases of HIV infection rapidly increased in Burma to around 350,000 adults in 2004-5, with a national prevalence rate of 1.3 per cent.23 As with malaria, however, there continue to be many doubts about statistics, with nongovernmental groups claiming national prevalence rates of 2 per cent or even higher.24 But on all sides of the arguments, there is recognition that many socio-economic conditions exist in Burma for the virulent spread of the disease, including borderland conflicts, intravenous drug users, commercial sex workers, mine workers and large numbers of other migrants.25 As UNAIDS points out, the spread of HIV infection in Burma is “heterogenous varying widely by geographical location and by population sub group”. 26 Equally concerning, there has been an inter-linked upsurge in the spread of tuberculosis during the past decade, with 97,000 new cases detected each year and a worrying increase in multi-drug resistance.
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Shoklo Malaria Research Unit
2006-12-28
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 167.73 KB
more
Topic: Health, malaria, WHO
Sub-title: Malaria is said to be as old as mankind. Worldwide it has killed more people than any other disease in history. Here in Myanmar, more than 8 million people remain at high risk, and we recorded over 70,000 cases in 2018. Yet, we firmly believe that we can,
Topic: Health, malaria, WHO
Description: "Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes, according to the World Health Organisation. However, it is preventable and curable. In the last seven years, we have witnessed extraordinary progress in the fight against malaria in the country. Cases have dropped by 85 percent and deaths by a stunning 95pc. With this current trajectory, we can end local transmission in Myanmar by 2030. There are many reasons for the recent success. The government has made malaria elimination a political priority, not only for the Ministry of Health and Sports, but for all ministries. Public health facilities and village volunteers provide free tests, treatment and care across the country. And development partners have contributed significant funding and technical expertise. This has complemented large increases in domestic resources dedicated to tackle the disease. We should celebrate progress. But we must also be mindful that the fight is not yet over. As we move closer to elimination, malaria will recede into the most remote of areas and make it harder to find the last cases. This challenge is compounded by antimalarial drug resistance in the countries surrounding the Mekong River. If drug resistance were to deepen and spread, we may have a public health disaster on our hands. We must stop drug resistance in its tracks, and the only way to do so with certainty is to eliminate the disease. Elimination will require more of what has proven successful, as well as innovation. We must increase and sustain funding, ensure that all have access to quality health care, and expand the collaboration with communities affected by malaria. We must also deepen our partnership with the corporate sector. In 2018, the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance and Yoma Strategic Holdings launched M2030 in Myanmar, bringing together businesses, consumers and health organisations to help end malaria. Today, local companies are also raising funds for malaria programs in Myanmar, reminding consumers that they can help end this disease..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-10-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title: ‘IgM’ blood protein identified in Melbourne, while NASA has project in Myanmar trying to forecast if disease hotspots are linked to deforestation
Description: "Researchers in Australia say a particular antibody is far more influential in combating malaria than previously understood – a discovery which they say has major implications for developing an effective vaccine. Antibodies are proteins in the blood produced by the immune system to fight infection. Researchers at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne say the antibody known as IgM was widely thought to play only a cameo role in the immune response to malaria, by activating initially before disappearing when the leading antibody — known as IgG — takes over. But the new research, published in the journal Science Advances, shows IgM acts as a co-lead with IgG to block and clear malaria infection in the blood. “The research team was able to show that IgM can persist for long periods to sustain the fight against malaria,” study senior author, and Burnet Institute Head of Malaria Immunity and Vaccines Laboratory, Professor James Beeson said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
2019-09-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Topic: Chikungunya, dengue, malaria, Mosquito-borne diseases
Sub-title: A quick test showed that the man in his 50s had been infected with dengue fever, but his wife, who is in her 30s, and their four-year-old and six-year-old daughters showed no signs of infection.
Topic: Chikungunya, dengue, malaria, Mosquito-borne diseases
Description: "In Myanmar, a family of four has contracted mosquito-borne diseases. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that one member is infected with dengue fever and the other three have contracted chikungunya. Both dengue and chikungunya is mosquito-borne and these diseases occur generally in and around the monsoon season. They affect sub-tropical and tropical countries. Dengue and chikungunya are viral diseases with very similar symptoms. Both have symptoms such as high fever, headache, eye pain, joint pain, rashes and lethargy. Both viral infections are spread by Aedes mosquito. However, identifying the exact disease is critical since dengue is much more dangerous and may need emergency medical intervention. It is also possible for a patient to have dengue and chikungunya at the same time (coinfection). The most distinguishing feature of dengue is bleeding. The family from northern Taiwan visited their relatives in Mandalay and Yangon from late June to last week, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching told Taipei Times, adding that quarantine officers at the airport detected a fever affecting the father upon their arrival..."
Source/publisher: "News 18"
2019-09-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Dengue, Malaria
Language:
more
Description: "Nasa is developing a new technique to forecast malaria outbreaks in Myanmar from space, as the emergence of new drug-resistant strains in Southeast Asia threatens efforts to wipe out the deadly disease globally. The goal of worldwide malaria eradication within a generation, by 2050, is "bold but attainable", a report released this week in The Lancet argued. Malaria cases and deaths plummeted by more than 90% in Myanmar between 2010 and 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) figures show, a success largely credited to better rural health services and wider use of treated bednets.But the country still has a higher prevalence than its neighbours in the Mekong region. Several drug-resistant strains are taking hold across Southeast Asia and it is feared these could migrate to Africa where more than 90% of cases globally occur. To counter this threat, Nasa is deploying "cutting edge" spatial technology to tackle malaria outbreaks before they happen, scientist Tatiana Loboda told AFP..."
Source/publisher: "Bangkok Post" via AFP
2019-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Topic: Global health
Sub-title: Once a malaria blackspot, Myanmar has used aid money to tackle the disease locally – an approach, say experts, from which other countries can learn
Topic: Global health
Description: "With a plastic case full of cheap medical supplies and only a few days’ training, Say Mu Phaw is on the verge of eliminating malaria from her village in south-eastern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region. Back in 2015, her first full year as a village health worker, 16 people came down with the disease in Mi Kyaung Hlaung, where roughly 600 residents live surrounded by mosquito-ridden tropical forests. Last year, armed with latex gloves, lancets and a supply of disposable malaria testing kits, she diagnosed just one villager despite testing 250 people. Before she started work, most of her neighbours had only a vague idea of what malaria was and how to prevent it. “Now, whenever they see symptoms, they’ll approach me first rather than the other way round,” she says. Say Mu Phaw is one of thousands of volunteers across the country to have received training and supplies from foreign donors since political reforms began at the start of this decade, ushering in a flood of aid. Their efforts have helped save thousands of lives, and are fast turning Myanmar from a malaria black spot into a world leader in the fight to eliminate the disease. Across the country, almost 4,000 people died from malaria in 2010, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates. In 2017, the disease claimed just over 200 lives..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Guardian"
2019-07-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language:
more
Description: "Resistance to the drug that has saved millions of lives from malaria has been detected over a wider area than previously thought, scientists warn. The ability of the malaria parasite to shrug off the effects of artemisinin has been spreading since it emerged in South East Asia. Tests, published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, now show this resistance on the verge of entering India. Experts said the development was "alarming" and an "enormous threat". Deaths from malaria have nearly halved since 2000, and the infection now kills about 584,000 people each year. But resistance to artemisinin threatens to undo all that hard work, and it has been detected in: Cambodia Laos Thailand Vietnam Myanmar, also known as Burma Blood samples from 940 people with malaria from 55 sites across Myanmar showed this resistance was widespread across the country. One site, in the Sagaing region, showed that resistant parasites were just 25km (15 miles) from the Indian border..."
Creator/author: James Gallagher
Source/publisher: BBC News website
2015-02-20
Date of entry/update: 2016-08-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: "The rapid decline in effectiveness of a widely used anti-malaria drug treatment on the Thai-Burmese border is linked to the increasing prevalence of specific mutations in the malaria parasite itself, according to a paper published in the Clinical Infectious Disease Journal. The mutations in specific regions of the parasite?s kelch gene — which are genetic markers of artemisinin resistance — were the decisive factor, the authors say, in the selection of parasites that are also resistant to mefloquine. This resulted in the growing failure of the widely-used anti-malaria drug combination of mefloquine and artesunate, the first artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) used on the Thai-Burmese border. Led by Dr Aung Pyae Phyo of the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU), the study used data from a 10-year study of 1,005 patients with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria at SMRU clinics on the border. ?This study demonstrates for the first time that artemisinin resistance leads to failure of the artemisinin partner drug, in this case, mefloquine,” says Prof François Nosten, director of SMRU. ?This means that the first line artemisinin combination therapy introduced here in 1994 has finally fallen to resistance,” he said..."
Source/publisher: "Clinical Infectious Disease Journal" via Democratic Voice of Burma
2016-06-25
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: "Drug-resistant malaria appears to have taken hold in much of Myanmar, and scientists aren?t exactly sure how. It may have spread here from elsewhere, or it may have emerged independently, but in any case, the strategy to fight it seems set for a major change. More than a decade ago, the deadliest type of malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, evolved in Cambodia, becoming resistant to the main anti-malaria drug, artemisinin. For several years, resistant parasites have also been detected along the Myanmar-Thailand border, as well as in Bago Region, but earlier this year, scientists revealed that the problem may be much greater than was previously realized. In February, a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal showed that at 55 malaria treatment centers across the country, nearly 40 percent of parasite samples had genetic mutations linked to artemisinin resistance. In fact, these mutations were found in seven of the country?s 10 administrative regions, including in Homalin, Sagaing Region, only 15 miles from the Indian border. And that?s a big deal. Myanmar—stretching from the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in the south to the Himalayan mountains in the north—offers the only known path for resistant parasites to make their way contiguously to the Indian subcontinent, and from there to Africa, where the disease already kills hundreds of thousands of children every year. This has happened in the past with other anti-malarial drugs that were once powerful but are now ineffective, resulting in the loss of millions of lives..."
Creator/author: Samantha Michaels
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
2015-06-18
Date of entry/update: 2015-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: The World Health Organization said Thursday that governments in the Mekong region must act ?urgently? to stop the spread of drug-resistant malaria which has emerged in parts of Vietnam and Myanmar. There is growing evidence that the malaria parasite is becoming resistant to a frontline treatment, the anti-malarial drug artemisinin, in southern and central Vietnam and in southeastern Myanmar, the WHO said in a statement.
Source/publisher: rawstory.com
2012-09-27
Date of entry/update: 2012-09-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: "New research shows that artemisinin-resistant malaria has emerged and increased rapidly along the Thailand-Myanmar border, with implications for the regions containment strategy" - "The Lancet"....For the full text of "The Lancet" article, go to http://www.thelancet.com and search for Artemisinin-resistant malaria - you will need to register to read it - free...The other article, in "Science" of 6 April can be accessed at http://www.sciencemag.org -- similar search, but you have to pay to register.
Source/publisher: AFP via "Bangkok Post" from "The Lancet" 5 April and "Science" 6 April
2012-04-05
Date of entry/update: 2012-04-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: "Approaches to expand malaria control interventions in areas of active conflict are urgently needed. Despite international agreement regarding the imperative to control malaria in eastern Burma, there are currently no large-scale international malaria programmes operating in areas of active conflict. A local ethnic health department demonstrated that village health workers are capable of implementing malaria control interventions among internally displaced persons (IDPs). This paper describes how these internally displaced villagers facilitated rapid expansion of the programme. Clinic health workers received training in malaria diagnosis and treatment, vector control and education at training sites along the border. After returning to programme areas inside Burma, they trained villagers to perform an increasingly comprehensive set of interventions. This iterative training strategy to increase human resources for health permitted the programme to expand from 3000 IDPs in 2003 to nearly 40,000 in 2008. It was concluded that IDPs are capable of delivering essential malaria control interventions in areas of active conflict in eastern Burma. In addition, health workers in this area have the capacity to train community members to take on implementation of such interventions. This iterative strategy may provide a model to improve access to care in this population and in other conflict settings..." Keywords: internally displaced persons; village health workers; human rights; human resources for health; malaria control
Creator/author: C.I. Lee, L.S. Smith, E.K. Shwe Oo, B.C. Scharschmidt, E. Whichard, Thart Kler, T.J. Leea, A.K. Richards
Source/publisher: Global Public Health Vol. 00, No. 0,
2008-11-17
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 92.58 KB
more
Description: Acknowledgements ... Abbreviations ... Regional Profi le of Malaria in the Greater Mekong Subregion ... 1. Background and epidemiology 2. National Malaria Control Programmes 3. Key challenges facing malaria control in the Region 4. International partners in malaria control in the GMS ... Country Profiles: Cambodia 1. Epidemiological profi le 2. Overview of malaria control activities ... China?Yunnan province 1. Epidemiological profile 2. Overview of malaria control activities ... Lao PDR 1. Epidemiological profile 2. Overview of malaria control activities ... Myanmar 1. Epidemiological profile 2. Overview of malaria control activities ... Thailand 1. Epidemiological profile 2. Overview of malaria control activities ... Viet Nam 1. Epidemiological profile 2. Overview of malaria control activities ... Annex I: Approved GFATM Malaria Proposals for the Greater Mekong Subregion
Source/publisher: World Health Organization _SEAR, WPR
2010-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 73.4 KB
more
Description: JAPAN International Cooperation is leading the fight against three major diseases in Myanmar. The Myanmar Times? Khin Myat met with JICA project leader and tuberculosis specialist, Mr Kosuke Okada, and malaria expert Mr Masatoshi Nakamura to ask about their activities. 1. How much money is JICA spending annually to control these diseases? Our project period is from January 2005 to January 2010. We have been spending around ¥150 million per year on long- and short-term experts, international and domestic training, provision of equipment such as vehicles, lab equipment, microscopes, mosquito nets, lab test kits, local training and consumables.
Source/publisher: Myanmar Times (Volume 22, No. 425)
2008-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: Summary: Chloroquine (CQ) and sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP) are two first-line antimalarials used under the existing Indian National Drug Policy in the north-eastern region of India bordering several countries including Myanmar. Although widespread resistance to antimalarials in Plasmodium falciparum has been reported from western Myanmar, information from the Indian side of the border is scarce. We studied the therapeutic response to CQ and SP at four sites in Changlang and Lohit, two administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Myanmar. We monitored uncomplicated falciparum malaria patients after treatment with standard regimens of CQ and SP for 28 days following the revised in-vivo protocol of the World Health Organization. A total of 236 patients, 95 in the CQ group and 141 in the SP group, participated. We recorded 23.8% early treatment failures to CQ and 14.1% to SP; late clinical failures of 14.3 and 12.6%; late parasitological failures of 10.7 and 8.1% and adequate clinical and parasitological responses of 51.2 and 65.2%, respectively. The significantly different treatment failure rates seen in Chowkham (furthest from Indo-Myanmar border) and Jairampur/Nampong (nearest to Indo-Myanmar border) for chloroquine (Cox proportion hazard ratio 9.1, P < 0.0001) and SP (Cox proportion hazard ratio 7.35, P ? 0.001) denote a non-response gradient to the two antimalarials extending from the international border. The gradient is probably indicative of the direction of movement of the drug-resistant P. falciparum parasite. The utility of chloroquine as the first-line drug under the present National Drug Policy in these areas needs reconsideration... Keywords: antimalarial, drug resistance, in-vivo sensitivity, border area malaria, chloroquine, sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine, therapeutic failure
Creator/author: P. K. Mohapatra, Anil Prakas, K. Taison, K. Negmu, A. C. Gohain, N. S. Namchoom, D. Wange, D. R. Bhattacharyya, B. K. Goswami, B. K. Borgohain, J. Mahanta
Source/publisher: "Tropical Medicine & International Health" Volume 10, Issue 5, pages 478&ndash;483, May 2005
2005-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: Abstract. In vitro drug susceptibility profiles were assessed in 75 Plasmodium falciparum isolates from 4 sites in Myanmar. Except at Mawlamyine, the site closest to the Thai border, prevalence and degree of resistance to mefloquine were lower among the Myanmar isolates as compared with those from Thailand. Geometric mean concentration that inhibits 50% (IC50) and 90% (IC90) of Mawlamyine isolates were 51 nM (95% confidence interval [CI], 40–65) and 124 nM (95% CI, 104–149), respectively. At the nearest Thai site, Maesod, known for high-level multidrug resistance, the corresponding values for mefloquine IC50 and IC90 were 92 nM (95% CI, 71–121) and 172 nM (95% CI, 140– 211). Mefloquine susceptibility of P. falciparum in Myanmar, except for Mawlamyine, was consistent with clinicalparasitological efficacy in semi-immune people. High sensitivity to artemisinin compounds was observed in this geographical region. The data suggest that highly mefloquine-resistant P. falciparum is concentrated in a part of the Thai-Myanmar border region.
Creator/author: CHANSUDA WONGSRICHANALAI, KHIN LIN, LORRIN W. PANG, M. A. FAIZ, HARALD NOEDL
Source/publisher: The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
2001-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: Three studies were carried out to determine the need, acceptability, and efficacy of adding mefloquine to artemisinin derivatives (AD) for the first-line treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The first was a retrospective study of 255 basic health workers which showed that their recommendation ofAD to patients depended on their level of training. None of the paramedics/midwives and only 9% of 129 doctors had prescribed AD, and no one had recommended AD in combination with mefloquine; 72% of patients used courses that were too short for parasitological cure. To promote the addition of mefloquine to AD regimens we conducted intervention workshops with health care providers and subsidized the cost of mefloquine to patients. In the second study, we interviewed 200 patients before and after the intervention to evaluate drug compliance with fulidoses ofAD and use of subsidized mefloquine. After the intervention, we found that only 3.6% had used mefloquine and 62% had taken non-curative doses of AD. In the third study, we provided blister packs of medication in daily doses and compared the intake ofAD + placebo (158 patients) with that ofAD + mefloquine (222 patients) for 5 days. The compliance with both regimens was 99%. Blood smears for parasites on day 28 showed one positive in the AD + mefloquine group and 7 positive in the AD group. We conclude that provision of blister packs of daily doses is a very effective way to improve compliance with short courses and drug combinations, but the efficacy of the combination in Myanmar in this particular study was only marginally higher than that of AD alone.
Creator/author: TIN SHWE, Myint Lwin, Soe Aung
Source/publisher: Word Health Organizaton
1998-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: "A drug-resistant strain of the disease malaria - first detected about 18 months ago near the Thailand-Cambodia border - is now showing up again along Thailand's border with Myanmar. Many patients in the region taking anti-malarial drugs are now taking much longer to respond to treatment. Medics fear the resistant strain could eventually spread to Africa, where most of the world's malaria cases and deaths occur. Aela Callan reports from a clinic near the Thai town of Mae Sot on the border with Myanmar."
Creator/author: Aela Callan
Source/publisher: Aljazeera
2010-04-01
Date of entry/update: 2010-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: Abstract: :Background: Burma records the highest number of malaria deaths in southeast Asia and may represent a reservoir of infection for its neighbors, but the burden of disease and magnitude of transmission among border populations of Burma remains unknown. Methods: Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) parasitemia was detected using a HRP-II antigen based rapid test (Paracheck-Pf®). Pf prevalence was estimated from screenings conducted in 49 villages participating in a malaria control program, and four retrospective mortality cluster surveys encompassing a sampling frame of more than 220,000. Crude odds ratios were calculated to evaluate Pf prevalence by age, sex, and dry vs. rainy season. Results: 9,796 rapid tests were performed among 28,410 villagers in malaria program areas through four years (2003: 8.4%, 95% CI: 8.3 ? 8.6; 2004: 7.1%, 95% CI: 6.9 ? 7.3; 2005:10.5%, 95% CI: 9.3 ? 11.8 and 2006: 9.3%, 95% CI: 8.2 ? 10.6). Children under 5 (OR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.93 ? 2.06) and those 5 to 14 years (OR = 2.24, 95% CI: 2.18 ? 2.29) were more likely to be positive than adults. Prevalence was slightly higher among females (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.02 ? 1.06) and in the rainy season (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.16 ? 1.88). Among 5,538 rapid tests conducted in four cluster surveys, 10.2% were positive (range 6.3%, 95% CI: 3.9 ? 8.8; to 12.4%, 95% CI: 9.4 ? 15.4). Conclusion: Prevalence of plasmodium falciparum in conflict areas of eastern Burma is higher than rates reported among populations in neighboring Thailand, particularly among children. This population serves as a large reservoir of infection that contributes to a high disease burden within Burma and likely constitutes a source of infection for neighboring regions."
Creator/author: Adam K Richards, Linda Smith, Luke C Mullany, Catherine I Lee, Emily Whichard, Kristin Banek, Mahn Mahn, Eh Kalu Shwe Oo, Thomas J Lee
Source/publisher: Conflict and Health
2007-09-05
Date of entry/update: 2008-01-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Malaria
Language: English
more
Description: "Decades of repressive military rule, civil war, corruption, bad governance, isolation, and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have rendered Burma?s health care system incapable of responding effectively to endemic and emerging infectious diseases. Burma?s major infectious diseases—malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis (TB)—are severe health problems in many areas of the country. Malaria is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality due to infectious disease in Burma. Eighty-nine percent of the estimated population of 52 million lived in malarial risk areas in 1994, with about 80 percent of reported infections due to Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of the disease. Burma has one of the highest TB rates in the world, with nearly 97,000 new cases detected each year.4 Drug resistance to both TB and malaria is rising, as is the broad availability of counterfeit antimalarial drugs. In June 2007, a TB clinic operated by Médecins Sans Frontières?France in the Thai border town of Mae Sot reported it had confirmed two cases of extensively drugresistant TB in Burmese migrants who had previously received treatment in Burma. Meanwhile, HIV/AIDS, once contained to high-risk groups in Burma, has spread to the general population, which is defined as a prevalence of 1 percent among reproductive-age adults.5 Meanwhile, the Burmese government spends less than 3 percent of national expenditures on health, while the military, with a standing army of over 400,000 troops, consumes 40 percent.6 By comparison, many of Burma?s neighbors spend considerably more on health: Thailand (6.1%7), China (5.6 %8), India (6.1%9), Laos (3.2%10), Bangladesh (3.4%11), and Cambodia (12%12).....The report recommends that: • The Burmese government develop a national health care system in which care is distributed effectively, equitably, and transparently. • The Burmese government increase its spending on health and education to confront the country?s long-standing health problems, especially the rise of drug-resistant malaria and tuberculosis. • The Burmese government rescind guidelines issued last year by the country?s Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development because these guidelines have restricted such organizations as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from providing relief in Burma. • The Burmese government allow ICRC to resume visits to prisoners without the requirement that ICRC doctors be accompanied by members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association or other organizations. • The Burmese government take immediate steps to halt the internal conflict and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in eastern Burma that are creating an unprecedented number of internally displaced persons and facilitating the spread of infectious diseases in the region. • Foreign aid organizations and donors monitor and evaluate how aid to combat infectious diseases in Burma is affecting domestic expenditures on health and education. • Relevant national and local government agencies, United Nations agencies, NGOs establish a regional narcotics working group which would assess drug trends in the region and monitor the impact of poppy eradication programs on farming communities. • UN agencies, national and local governments, and international and local NGOs cooperate closely to facilitate greater information-sharing and collaboration among agencies and organizations working to lessen the burden of infectious diseases in Burma and its border regions. These institutions must develop a regional response to the growing problem of counterfeit antimalarial drugs."
Creator/author: Eric Stover, Voravit Suwanvanichkij, Andrew Moss, David Tuller, Thomas J. Lee, Emily Whichard, Rachel Shigekane, Chris Beyrer, David Scott Mathieson
Source/publisher: Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley; Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
2007-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-06-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 5.15 MB
more
Description: "...This report seeks to synthesize what is known about HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and other disease threats including Avian influenza (H5N1 virus) in Burma; assess the regional health and security concerns associated with these epidemics; and to suggest policy options for responding to these threats in the context of tightening restrictions imposed by the junta..." ...I. Introduction [p. 9-13] II. SPDC Health Expenditures and Policies [p.14-18] III. Public Health Status [p.19-42] a. HIV/AIDS b. TB c. Malaria d. Other health threats: Avian Flu, Filaria, Cholera IV. SPDC Policies Towards the Three "Priority Diseases" [p. 43-45] and Humanitarian Assistance V. Health Threats and Regional Security Issues [p. 46-51] a. HIV b. TB c. Malaria VI. Policy and Program Options [p. 52-56] VII. References [p. 57-68] Appendix A: Official translation of guidelines Appendix B: Statement by Bureau of Public Affairs Appendix C: Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Avian Flu notification.
Creator/author: Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH; Luke Mullany, PhD; Adam Richards, MD, MPH; Aaron Samuals, MHS; Voravit Suwanvanichkij, MD, MPH; om Lee, MD, MHS; Nicole Franck, MHS
Source/publisher: Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
2006-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese, Chinese
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 1.56 MB 82.86 KB 143.52 KB
more
Description: FROM THE FIELD: Participatory Learning and Action for Community-Based Malaria Control (James Hopkins, Kenan Institute Asia)... GENERAL HEALTH: Population Movement and Malaria (Dr. Naw Nhai. M, SMRU); Fake Artesunate in Southeast Asia : A Murderous Trade (Stephane Proux, S.M.R.U)...MATRERNITH & CHILD HEALTH: Malaria in Pregnancy : Important Issues (Dr. Rose McGready, SMRU); Diagnosis of Malaria (Sarika Pattanasin. Lab technician, S.M.R.U.)... CASE STUDY: The Problem of Presumptive Diagnosis and Treatment of Malaria (Lucy Phaipun, SMRU); Important Issues Regarding Treatment of Malaria in Small Children (Lucy Phaiphun, SMRU)...HEALTH EDUCATION: The Importance of Completing Anti-malarial Treatment (Mya Ohn, Medic, SMRU); Daw Shwe Mi's Lessons (Mya Ohn, Medic, SMRU).
Source/publisher: Aide Medicale Internationale (AMI)
2002-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 1.33 MB
Local URL:
more
Description: With a Pilot Study on the Right to Health in Constitution. A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master's in Law (LL.M) Table of Contents: Chapter I: Introduction... Chapter II: Malaria As Public Health Problem Globally and in Burma: 2.2 Malaria as a Global Public Health Problem; 2.2.1Basic Description of Malaria as a Disease; 2.3 The Global Disease Burden of Malaria; 2.3.1 Epidemiological Data; 2.3.2 Economic Cost of Malaria; 2.3.3 The Causal Factors Behind Malaria's Global Disease Burden; 2.3.3.1Health System Failure; 2.3.3.2 Drug Resistance; 2.3.3.3 Population Movement; 2.3.3.4 Deteriorating; 2.3.3.5 Poverty; 2.3.3.6 Environmental Degradation 2.4 Malaria as a Public Health Problem in Burma 2.4.1 The Burden of Malaria in Burma; 2.4.2 Causal Factors Behind Burma's Growing Malaria Problem; 2.4.2.1 Political Instability and Oppression; 2.4.2.2 Failure of the Burmese Public Health and Healthcare System; 2.4.2.3 Environmental Degradation Along Burma Frontier... Chapter III: Law, Public Health and Malaria in Burma: 3.2 Law and Public Health; 3.2.1 Public Health as a Government Responsibility; 3.2.2 Law as Critical to the Public Health Endeavor; 3.3 Gostin's Definition and Theory of Public Health; 3.3.1 Gostin's Definition of Public Health Law 3.3.2 Gostin's Theory of Public Health Law; 3.3.2.1 The Government; 3.2.2 Populations; 3.3.2.3 Relationships; 3.3.2.4 Services; 3.3.2.5 Coercion; 3.4 Law, Public Health, and Malaria Control in Burma; 3.4.1Burma and the Rule of Law; 3.4.2 Burmese Definition of Public Health Law; 3.4.2.1 Government; 3.4.2.2 Populations; 3.4.2.3 Relationships; 3.4.2.4 Services; 3.4.2.5 Coercion; 3.5 Lessons Learned from Applying Gostin's Theory of Public Health Law to Malaria Control in Burma... Chapter IV: Current Malaria Governance Initiatives: From the Global to the Local: 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Initiatives on Global Health Governance for Malaria; 4.2.1 What is �Global Health Governance'? 4.2.2 Global Malaria Initiatives; 4.2.2.1 WHO's Roll Back Malaria; 4.2.2.2 Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) on Malaria Drug and Vaccine Developmen;t 4.2.2.3 The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; 4.3 Global Malaria Initiatives and National Malaria Governance in Burma; 4.3.1 Burma and the Roll Back Malaria Campaign; 4.3.2 Burma and the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) on Malaria Drug and Vaccine Development; 4.3.3 Burma and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; 4.4 Conclusion... Chapter V: The Need for The Right to Health: Burma New Constitution: 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 The Right to Health in International Law; 5.3 The Right to Health in Constitutional Law; 5.3.1 Why the Right to Health in Constitutional Law? 5.3.2 The Right to Health in the South African Constitution; 5.3.2.1 Soobramoney v. Minister of Health, KwaZulu-Natal; 5.3.2.2 Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), et al (Applicants) v. Minister of Health, et al (Respondents); 5.4 Building the Right to Health into the New Burmese Constitution; 5.4.1 Why Analyze the Draft Constitution?; 5.4.2 Analysis of the Lack of Specific Public Health Provisions in the Draft Constitution; 5.4.3 A Potential Right to Health Provision for the New Burmese Constitution; 5.5 Conclusion; Chapter VI: Conclusion...BIBLIOGRAPHY... APPENDICIES: A. Soobramoney v Minister of Health (Kwazulu-Natal) in Constitutional Court of South Africa, CCT32/97 (27 November 1997) http://www.concourt.gov.za/date1997.html; B. Minister of Health v Treatment Action Campaign in Constitutional Court of South Africa, CCT8/02 (5 July 2002) http://www.concourt.gov.za/date2002.html; C. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa: Chapter II, Bill of Rights; D. The Draft Constitution of the (Future) Federal Union of Burma Drafted by National Council of the Union of Burma: Chapter II, Basis Rights; E. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)... CV.
Creator/author: Amaya
Source/publisher: Indiana University School of Law Graduate Legal Studies Department
2002-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: From the MSF 2000 International Activity Report. MSF has been working in Burma since 1992. International staff: 31, National staff: 192. Treatment of Malaria, AIDS prevention
Source/publisher: Medecins Sans Frontieres
2000-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more