Meeting of anti-malaria network opens in Bujumbura

A meeting of the East African Network for the Monitoring of anti-Malaria Treatment opened on Tuesday in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, with participants calling for the establishment of a system to monitor the use of a new anti-malarial combination therapy. The delegates, from Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya and Uganda, said the Network should play a key role in advocacy for countries to put in place useful and acceptable anti-malaria policies. During the meeting - the Network's 22nd general assembly - the delegates are due to discuss country reports on anti-malarial therapy, the Network's work plan and budget for 2004 and to propose a programme for a policy-makers' meeting scheduled for August. Burundi's health minister, Dr Jean Kamana, told the meeting that 90 percent of the country was prone to malaria, and in the absence of sufficient health structures, malaria was the major cause of morbidity and mortality. The Network's chairman, Dr T.K. Mutabingwa from Tanzania, said the Network had set up and strengthened the capacities of participating countries in the monitoring of anti-malaria treatment, and had generated data used to review and update anti-malaria treatment. He said although some countries had adopted the new Artemisia-based combination therapy to treat malaria, the medication still faced various challenges, including political factors. He called on political leaders to use their influence so that if a country opted for the Artemisia-based therapy, it did not take years for patients to get access to the drugs. Burundi and Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar are the two countries in the Network that adopted the use of the Artemisia-based combination therapy since 2003, after studies found that malaria had become resistant to traditional anti-malarials such as Fansidar and chloroquine. The director of Burundi's national programme for the control of transmittable diseases, Dr Baza Dismas, said the combination therapy was working perfectly. "There are some side effects, but we are sensitising people not to stop the treatment," he said. However, a monitoring system needed to be put in place, Dr Baza said, in the six pilot centres identified in the provinces of Karuzi, Bubanza, Bujumbura, Gitega, Kayanza, Gitega and Cankuzo. According to government statistics, malaria is a serious concern in Burundi, where, for lack of funds, 80 percent of the public does not seek medical care. At a forum held last week for all health partners in the country to identify challenges and adopt strategies for the way forward, access to health care was found to be one of Burundi's major problems. Burundian media have in the past reported incidences of patients being detained in hospitals for failure to pay medical bills. However, the government has subsidised the treatment of malaria, allowing people access to medicine at 200 Burundi francs (about 5 US cents) per dose.