Up to 3.3 billion people worldwide are at risk of being infected with and developing malaria. Switzerland supports a number of public-private partnerships which work towards eradicating this major hindrance to development, particularly in Africa.
Public-private partnerships join the fight against malaria
A single drop of blood is deposited on a 10 x 3 cm plastic slide and, just like a pregnancy test, either one or two lines appear within a few minutes. There are diagnostic tools that are now ready for use in malaria-hit countries.
The quality of this test is regularly checked by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostic (FIND), one of several public-private partnerships that receive SDC support for their work on malaria control and prevention. Although the number of malaria-related deaths fell by 50% in the 2000s, malaria still claims the lives of half a million people every year, 90% of whom are in Africa. For the countries affected, it poses a major challenge and hits children and women disproportionately hard.
SDC project: Improving diagnostics for the fight against malaria
Product development partnerships (PDPs): When public meets private
PDPs, which began to emerge in the 1990s, were developed with a view to finding innovative approaches to reducing the burden of poverty-related diseases like malaria. Switzerland has played an active role in the development of this new model of cooperation. Together with other partners, it launched one of the first PDPs: the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). These partnerships help advance research on and the development of diagnostic tools, medication and instruments to control the vectors of malaria and other infectious diseases.
PDPs are foundations that are financed through public and private funds. They bring together industry (pharmaceutical, biotechnology) and research institutes, which in turn use their expertise and knowledge to develop affordable products that match the needs of the affected population and the environment in which they live.
The SDC supports a total of three PDPs involved in malaria prevention and control: MMV (drugs), FIND (development and quality control of diagnostic tools) and Innovative Vector Control Consortium IVCC (insecticides).
Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)
Promising results
These PDPs have led to the development of several products. For example, MMV launched five new antimalarial drugs, and a further nine are at the clinical development stage. Over 300 million courses of Coartem® Dispersible were delivered to treat children in over 50 malaria-endemic countries. IVCC launched a new long-lasting insecticide formulation, and FIND is working on an innovative test that will make it possible to identify the infection causing a patient’s fever.
