New approach to malaria and
pneumonia treatment underway
Dodowa (G/A), April 6, GNA - A trial of a single
combination drug for the treatment of malaria and
pneumonia at the same time administered on children
under five years to reduce mortality rate, has begun at
the Dodowa Health Research Centre in the Greater Accra
Region.
Mr Sylvanus Afesorgbor, a Research Assistant, working on
the antimalarial-antibiotics therapy at the Centre, said
the treatment of conditions associated with fevers in
children was usually skewed towards malaria.
He said children suffering from other diseases, such as
pneumonia, could also present with fevers and headaches,
but treatment for pneumonia could be overlooked and
children treated for malaria.
The Research Assistant was speaking to a group of
journalists from the Africa Media and Malaria Research
Network, who were on a visit to the Centre to acquaint
themselves with ongoing malaria projects there.
The visit was sponsored by the INDEPTH-Network and the
Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance, an African-led body
set-up with a 17-million dollar grant from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mr Afesorgbor said with the conclusion of the study,
also known as the malaria-pneumonia project, doctors
could combine the treatment of both malaria and
pneumonia through a single regimen.
He said the four-year study, which started in 2005,
would involve 725 community-trained agents going into
the Dangwe-West community to administer the drugs to
more than a thousand children recruited for the study.
It is expected that with the conclusion of the study,
recommendations would be made for use of the treatment
in the national health delivery programme for children.
The Dodowa Research Centre is one of three research
centres in Ghana researching into various malaria
initiatives.
GNA
