Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780309092180)

For more than 50 years, low-cost antimalarial drugs silently saved millions of lives and cured billions of debilitating infections. Today, however, these drugs no longer work against the deadliest form of malaria that exists throughout the world. Malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa--currently just over one million per year--are rising because of increased resistance to the old, inexpensive drugs. Although effective new drugs called "artemisinins" are available, they are unaffordable for the majority of the affected population, even at a cost of one dollar per course.

Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance examines the history of malaria treatments, provides an overview of the current drug crisis, and offers recommendations on maximizing access to and effectiveness of antimalarial drugs. The book finds that most people in endemic countries will not have access to currently effective combination treatments, which should include an artemisinin, without financing from the global community. Without funding for effective treatment, malaria mortality could double over the next 10 to 20 years and transmission will intensify.

Author: Institute of Medicine,Board on Global Health,Committee on the Economics of Antimalari
ISBN-10: 0309092183
ISBN-13: 9780309092180
Publisher: National Academies Press
Language: English
Published: 10/09/2004
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.63lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.26w x 1.01d