World Malaria Day: Sanofi Access to Medicines Partners with Endemic Countries to Fight Malaria

(3BL Media) April 25, 2012 - In Africa, a disease that kills one child every minute ⁽¹⁾

Impact Malaria, launched in 2001 provides a comprehensive approach to disease management, from prevention and diagnosis to treatment. For more than 10 years, Sanofi Access to Medicines has partnered with endemic countries to support their goal of eliminating malaria.

But even with the global community’s efforts, malaria is still one of the most deadly infectious diseases. In 2010, it killed more than 650 000 people in the world ⁽²⁾, 91% of them in Africa ⁽²⁾. And children are one of the most exposed populations: 86% of the victims are African children under 5 ⁽²⁾. In Africa, malaria kills one child every minute ⁽¹⁾ .

Programs on awareness and education

Continuing our efforts is a necessity if we are to drive to achieve this global goal of malaria elimination. With partnerships in place between Sanofi Access to Medicines and the government authorities of more than 20 endemic countries⁽³⁾, we take further steps towards our common goals. Events planned on the occasion of the World Malaria Day include:

- the “Schoolchildren against Malaria” initiative

“Schoolchildren against Malaria” aims to educate children on awareness and prevention through inter-school theatre contests, organized in partnership with the countries’ National Malaria Control Programs. Since 2008, theatre contests have been organized in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Ghana and reached 200,000 schoolchildren⁽³⁾.

This year, we renewed our commitment: a 4^th session is organized in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso and the initiative is extended to Madagascar, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Malawi and Congo.

- a 4-day malaria training course of healthcare professionals is organized in Niger and scientific communications sessions are held in Madagascar,

- various initiatives are directed towards communities, such as hikes in Senegal, roundtable discussions in Cameroon and Gabon which will be shown on TV , photographic exhibition in Nigeria …

- Media workshops for journalists, with the contribution of malaria experts are organized in Madagascar and Burundi, so that local media can relay key messages to communities.

Impact Malaria, a comprehensive approach of the disease management

Impact Malaria has developed a comprehensive approach of the malaria disease management based on a four-fold approach:

• - developing training tools and information and education initiatives that are adapted to all actors in the health chain,
• - producing medicines designed to meet patients’ needs, making use of our industrial know-how,
• - making medicines affordable for patients most in-need by applying a tiered pricing policy in endemic countries,
• - establishing a research and development program dedicated to therapeutic innovation in order to meet the challenges of the future, in particular the development of resistance to existing medicines.

(1) WHO, Malaria media center, fact sheet no94, December 2011,

source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/, consulted on March 1st,

(2) WHO, WHO Global Malaria Programme, World Malaria report 2011, 278 pages

2012

(3) Sanofi internal source