|
Others suggested the initiative be overhauled. "We have had caveats about this program since the beginning," said Manica Balasegaram, an executive director at Medecins Sans Frontieres, which is not linked to either report. He said it was important to use diagnostic tests before giving out malaria medicines, to ensure that people who took them actually had malaria. Giving the drugs to people without the disease could worsen drug resistance and wouldn't cure whatever ailment they did have. "If this program continues, we would like to see serious changes made," Balasegaram said. Next month, Global Fund officials and others will discuss the program's fate at a previously scheduled meeting. Since the program's inception, the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative, the world's second-biggest donor to malaria control after the Global Fund, has requested compelling evidence the subsidy program works. Without that, the U.S. group said it is not allowed by law to finance the malaria project. WHO has described the program's future as uncertain. David Schellenberg, a public health expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said it was too early to judge if the program had succeeded. "More people might be inadequately treated if this program is closed," he said. "But this approach will not work everywhere." ___ Online:
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor