Correspondence in this week's edition of The Lancet says that the community infrastructure which treats tropical diseases requires recognition as a critical platform for upscaling malaria interventions, particularly bednets and antimalarial drugs. The Correspondence is written by Professor David Molyneux, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues from the tropical disease and malaria communities.
They add: "Evidence from a multicountry study in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Uganda showed that, in districts where home management of malaria was integrated with a community-directed intervention (based on the ivermectin annual distribution strategy for onchocerciasis control), more than twice as many children with fever received antimalarial treatment than with home management alone. Moreover, possession and use of insecticidal or long-lasting insecticidal bednets were twice as high in districts with the community-directed intervention than in control districts...[these programmes] need to be recognised as an ideal platform for the delivery of malaria control interventions."
The authors call on The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), to recognise the potential of synergising tropical disease and malaria programmes. They say: "Some 120 million people living with neglected tropical diseases in the poorest and most remote areas of Africa are currently being reached and treated as part of national control programmes for these disorders annually. Additional funds would not only enable further expansion of neglected tropical disease coverage, but would also result in rapid increases in coverage with malaria control interventions."
They conclude: "Accordingly, we propose that the GFATM Board, the GFATM technical review panels, and the UN community should now recognise the weight of evidence supporting the integration of malaria and neglected tropical disease control interventions at the community level. If malaria control targets set forth in the Global Malaria Plan are to be met, coincident with the achievement of Millennium Development Goal targets, then this is an opportunity that cannot be missed."
Professor David Molyneux, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK T) 44 (0) 7780 991824 E) David.Molyneux@liverpool.ac.uk
Professor Alan Fenwick, Imperial College London, UK, T) +44 (0) 207 594 3418 / +44 (0) 7811 708313 E) a.fenwick@imperial.ac.uk
Professor Peter Hotez, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA T) +1 202 994 3532 / +1 202 841 3020 E) mtmpjh@gwumc.edu
For full Correspondence see: http://press.thelancet.com/tropicalcorrespondence.pdf
Journal
The Lancet