MMV supports Asia Pacific malaria forum

MMV congratulates the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr on his announcement that Australia will host a high-level malaria conference, Malaria 2012: Saving Lives in the Asia-Pacific, from 31 October to 2 November in Sydney.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 200 million malaria cases globally each year, with more than 30 million cases and 42,000 lives lost in the Asia-Pacific region alone.

The Conference will bring together regional partners in the Asia-Pacific, representatives of regional governments, international donors, the business sector and non-government organizations to examine how the region can work together to protect and build on progress to save lives from malaria.

The aim is to provide a foundation on which to develop a regional approach.

“Medicines for Malaria Venture welcomes Australia’s decision to host this malaria conference, and we look forward to participating,” said David Reddy, Chief Executive Officer of MMV. “Today, some of the world’s leading scientists in malaria drug research are based in Australia, and their continued research into new antimalarials will be critical to the achievement of global malaria eradication strategies.”

Malaria control and elimination continue to face numerous challenges, not least of which is the threat of emerging resistance to the current effective treatment – artemisinin. In preparation for this eventuality, MMV and partners are managing over 50 projects in the largest-ever pipeline of antimalarial medicines.

Mr. Ray Chambers, Chairman of the MMV Board and UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Malaria, will co-chair the conference with Minister Carr.