African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic ... - Blackherbals.com

African Traditional Herbal Research ClinicVolume 2, Issue 7 NEWSLETTER July/August 2007FEATURED ARTICLESSeeking to Reduce the Malaria BurdenPatience AtuhaireDaily MonitorJanuary 31, 2007Malaria is widely spread throughout the country with90% of the total population in highly endemic,primarily rural areas. It accounts for 25% of alloutpatient attendances in Uganda and 15.4% discountedlife years lost due to death from malaria as well as 12.9workdays lost due to absenteeism. The overall cost ofmalaria in Uganda is estimated at nearly 1% of theGross National Product. The National Malaria ControlProgramme outlines insecticide treated nets (ITNs) as akey strategy for malaria control but their access andavailability to the population is still limited.NetMark, therefore, is an organization with a timelimitedinvestment by USAID whose goal is to reducethe burden of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa byincreasing the commercial supply of an public demandfor Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs).This is done through partnerships with commercialcompanies and national malaria control programs, andnational scale public education and promotional efforts.The organization launched in Uganda in 2003 and hascontributed to several successes in the fight againstmalaria in the following ways:• The number of nets distributed in Ugandajumped from 280,295 to about 2.5 million in2004.• Ninety-three percent of net distribution inUganda in 2005 came from the private sector.• There are now eight ITN distributors in Ugandacompared to only one in 2002.• The number of outlets selling nets increasedfrom only five in Kampala to 1,164 throughoutthe country.• The average ITN price dropped to $5.50 from$8.00 in 2002.• The commercial sector’s investment in the ITNbusiness more than quadrupled from $445,694in 2003 to nearly $1.9 million by the end of2005, with businesses investing $2.55 or everydollar USAID spent in fiscal year 2005.Through Netmarks’ work, commercial sales of ITNs anduntreated nets topped 2.2 million and 2.5 million,respectively, for a total of nearly 5 million nets between2003 and March 2006. Netmark’s goal in Uganda is tobattle malaria by creating a sustainable, national marketfor ITNs that makes them accessible and affordable forall.To do this, NetMark developed the Full Market Impact(FMI) approach to establish a sustainable commercialmarket that complements donor-led ITN efforts byreaching people who can buy ITNs. This frees upresources that can be used to reach more people whocannot pay for nets by:-6-Traditional African Clinic – July/August 2007• Expanding public knowledge and use of ITNs(particularly long lasting ITNs) through amultimedia campaign to create demand.• Providing support to manufacturers anddistributors to ensure consistent supply of stock.• Providing support to distributors to make theirproducts more widely available through retailoutlets throughout the country, in both urbanand rural areas.• Encouraging participation of more internationalmanufacturers and local distributors for greatcompetition among brands. This has ultimatelylowered prices and made the products availableto all socio-demographic groups, especiallythose more vulnerable to malaria.• Evaluating progress and measuring impactthrough ongoing retail audits and periodichousehold surveys.Continued on page 7