Thursday, August 28, 2008
Inder Singh leads Clinton Foundation malaria drug acquisition initiative
Inder Singh, 31, director of the Clinton Foundation's Drug Access Program, part of CHAI or the Clinton Foundation HIV /AIDS Initiative, recently negotiated a landmark deal with four Indian and two Chinese companies to produce affordable malaria drugs for millions of sufferers in 69 countries.
"We completed agreements with suppliers at all levels of the production chain. These agreements are structured to reduce the volatility of the key raw ingredient [and cost driver] of these drugs, a plant derived material called artemisinin," Singh told News IndiaTimes. Prices for artemisinin have fluctuated wildly in recent years from a low of $150 per kilogram to a high of $1100 per kilogram, in other words more than 700 percent.
"Indian companies have become a god send for the production of high quality but low priced antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS and they are now doing this for malaria, Singh noted. "The companies we are working with are able to produce medicines as high in quality as any of the major multinational pharmaceutical companies but in many instances at even lower costs," Singh said.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the epaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
"We completed agreements with suppliers at all levels of the production chain. These agreements are structured to reduce the volatility of the key raw ingredient [and cost driver] of these drugs, a plant derived material called artemisinin," Singh told News IndiaTimes. Prices for artemisinin have fluctuated wildly in recent years from a low of $150 per kilogram to a high of $1100 per kilogram, in other words more than 700 percent.
"Indian companies have become a god send for the production of high quality but low priced antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS and they are now doing this for malaria, Singh noted. "The companies we are working with are able to produce medicines as high in quality as any of the major multinational pharmaceutical companies but in many instances at even lower costs," Singh said.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the epaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: antiretrovirals, CHAI, Clinton Foundation's Drug Access Program, HIV /AIDS, Inder Singh, malaria drugs, medicines, pharmaceutical companies, suppliers
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
'Me and You for Children of Myanmar': Bilaal Rajan, 11, rallies schools, others
The new shoes you just bought or the GameBoy you are about to buy, could save the life or educate a child somewhere in the world, says 11-year old Bilaal Rajan, of Brampton, a UNICEF Child Ambassador, who put out a call May 13, to children to begin fund-raising for their Burmese peers hit by the May 3 Cyclone Nargis. Hundreds of Havenwood Public School children in Mississauga, Ontario applauded Bilaal's speech launching the campaign he is calling 'Me and You for the Children of Myanmar.'
Rajan's challenge encourages every child in Canada to raise up to Myanma $105 for UNICEF Myanmar Cyclone Appeal. Children can participate in school-based fund-raising activities, download information and a challenge poster at the UNICEF Canada Web site at www.unicef.ca, or engage in their own fund-raising with family, neighbors and friends.
Even though News India-Times interviewed him just the day after the launch, Rajan said the response had been tremendous.
"All Peel Region schools are doing it, and New market, Aurora (townships). And we're still spreading the word," he said. (Peel Region covers Brampton and Mississauga in Greater Toronto where a significant South Asian population lives.) As this went to press, government estimates placed the dead as close to 40,000 but U.S. Charge d'Affairs to Burma, Shari Villarosa, told reporters on May 15, that the number could rise to 100,000.
UNICEF has been distributing food, water, medicines and shelter equipment since then, and says the lack of access to clean water and poor sanitation, inadequate shelter and poor nutrition pose particular threats to children.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Rajan's challenge encourages every child in Canada to raise up to Myanma $105 for UNICEF Myanmar Cyclone Appeal. Children can participate in school-based fund-raising activities, download information and a challenge poster at the UNICEF Canada Web site at www.unicef.ca, or engage in their own fund-raising with family, neighbors and friends.
Even though News India-Times interviewed him just the day after the launch, Rajan said the response had been tremendous.
"All Peel Region schools are doing it, and New market, Aurora (townships). And we're still spreading the word," he said. (Peel Region covers Brampton and Mississauga in Greater Toronto where a significant South Asian population lives.) As this went to press, government estimates placed the dead as close to 40,000 but U.S. Charge d'Affairs to Burma, Shari Villarosa, told reporters on May 15, that the number could rise to 100,000.
UNICEF has been distributing food, water, medicines and shelter equipment since then, and says the lack of access to clean water and poor sanitation, inadequate shelter and poor nutrition pose particular threats to children.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Bilaal Rajan, campaign, childern, Cyclone Appeal, distributing food, Flooding, medicines, UNICEF, UNICEF Child Ambassador, water
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