NEGLECTED DISEASES IN AFRICA

Cutenous Leishmaniasis lesions

Sleeping sickness

Also known as Human African Trypanosomiasis .It is spread by the bite of a tsetse fly and can be asymptomatic for years. When it crosses the brain it causes brain damage or even death if untreated. A painful spinal tap is done on patients to determine stage and treatment. Sadly, the oral drug for it is still in the early or late stages.

Kala azar disease,

 Also Visceral Leishmaniasis, is a parasitic disease spread by sand flies. It affects about 40000 in Asia and Africa and kills 10% of the victims annually. It causes bouts of fever, weight loss, spleen and liver swelling and anaemia. Its co-infection with HIV growing problem already existent in about 35 countries. 

The skin related form of kala azar is called Cutenous Leishmaniasis. It causes ostracism, disfiguring lesions on skin leaving grotesque scars and life long scars. The drugs were reported to be very toxic.

The Filarial parasitic worm disease 

Causes river blindness, elephantiasis and African eye-worm. It afflicts 168 million people .The first two cause long term suffering chronic disease with life long disabilities swollen limbs or swollen genitals. The eye itches severely. The preventive treatment cycle can last from 4 to 15 years and can even cause severe reaction given to people with combination of all the diseases at the same time.

The Chagas Disease 

Transmitted by the bite of a kissing bug or mother to child blood transfusion. It is more serious in children. The patients ultimately die in early adulthood. When chronic it causes heart damage or severe digestive system damage. There is need for more treatment options because the pill available is for adults which are split into 8 or 12 pieces for children. There is risk of mistake in dosage. There is also no way of telling if one is sufficiently cured.

 Paedriatic HIV 

 The causes are well known to the public.The mule-headed main issue is  drug resistance. The mothers can pass on the resistance to their babies.HIV also comes with Tuberculosis. HIV Drugs are proving to be resistant to the T.B ones. 

Dr .Tom Ellman, the Director of MSF HIV/TB projects in the South Africa’s Medical Unit criticized how ARV’s are being seen as the answer to all HIV problems. Still there are 3.4 million children infected and 230 000 of them die eventually. “This means that only 28% of them get access to treatment the rest die by the age of two,” he said.

“The problem is that finding most of the victims is hard until they are about 5-14 years old .50% of these eventually die. Some have developed resistance to the drugs which has been passed on from their mothers.”

It turns out that  the older a child gets the higher the percentage to resistance of drugs; 0-5 years 15% resistance,10-14 have 25% resistance whereas 15-19 have 36% resistance. 

Protease inhibitors  availed for children in form of syrups, are  in bulk, laden with alcohol, and dependent on refrigeration hence unfavorable. 

Efforts for change:

DNDinitiative developed a substitute Sprinkle method drug which is already in Chad and Congo .It is heat stable , palatable, affordable to many ,adapted for use at hospital level and four in one. However it is single dose that has to be mixed with food, milk or water has a bad taste due to the LPV/r plus 2NRTIs hence need for improvement.However, “Better drug being studied in South Africa for research and development as a 2014 project,”Dr. Ellman confirmed.

Collaboration with WHO which has improved standardization of the quality of products by DNDi. The Pre-market surveillance techniques offered by WHO are credible as per the 2011 Post market Surveillance report.

“Products by WHO are of good quality safe and properly assessed,”added Hiiti B. Siilo, the Director General of Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA).

Collaboration between the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and WHO has allowed some products to go through Article 58 

Marie-Helene Pinheiro, the principal regulatory advisor of EMA, mentioned that  products of complex generic factors such as pericoital contraceptives called for additional collaboration with the National Research Agencies (NRA’s).They cannot go through  Article 58.

PUBLISHED: http://www.scienceafrica.co.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=184:dndi-s-decade-of-research-improved-treatments&catid=87&Itemid=586