APPENDIX 67
Memorandum from the Medicines for Malaria
Venture
The morbidity and mortality of malaria have overwhelming
social and economic impact on the developing countries. This disease
is the number one killer of young children in Africa, claiming
one life every 30 seconds. Malaria is a curable disease—over
90% of the deaths are preventable with effective antimalarial
drugs. Unfortunately, it is also a disease that is widely neglected
with prevention and treatment grossly under funded.MMV is at the
forefront in antimalarial research with the largest portfolio
of drug R&D in history. Currently drugs, with treatment time
as short as three days, are the only way to treat malaria. Unfortunately,
the antimalarials that are available now are either widely ineffective
due to drug resistance or too expensive to reach the hundreds
of millions of people that need it. MMV's aim is to develop at
least one effective and affordable drug every five years with
the first drug registered by 2010.We have deep knowledge of the
disease and expertise in antimalarial drug research and development.
We would be honored to have the opportunity to give oral evidence
to the committee. November 2003
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