Malaria Consortium

Malaria Consortium

Area served	Africa, Asia
Focus	Health
Website	http://www.malariaconsortium.org/

Malaria Consortium is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to controlling malaria and other communicable diseases in Africa and Asia. It lists prevention, treatment, operational research, strengthening capacity and advocacy as areas of expertise.^[1]

The Malaria Consortium began as a research consortium within the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was originally funded solely by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), (the Overseas Development Administration before 1997). The organisation became an independent charity in 2003,^[2] formally inaugurated in February 2004 by Baroness Amos, Leader of the House of Lords.^[3]

In order to carry out its projects it works with many organisations including UNICEF, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID. It has enlisted the broad involvement of many partners to aid the effective delivery of services - communities, health systems, government and non-government agencies, local and international businesses and organisations plus academic institutions.^[1]

Over 95% of Malaria Consortium’s staff are located in Africa and Asia, collaborating with health ministries and other organisations in more than 20 countries. It has offices in the United Kingdom (Malaria Consortium International), Uganda (Malaria Consortium Africa), Thailand (Malaria Consortium Asia), Mozambique, Sudan, Zambia, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Areas of expertise

Malaria Consortium’s work concentrates on five health areas:

§ Malaria: treatment, diagnostics and mosquito net distribution, containing resistance to antimalarial drugs, and research and monitoring for partners and national malaria programmes.
§ Childhood Illnesses: especially the three main killers – malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
§ Neglected tropical diseases
§ National Health System Support and Capacity Building
§ Advocacy: mobilising parliamentarians, media and civil society to fight against malaria and other communicable diseases.

Comic Relief

In April 2009 Comic Relief awarded £6.3 million in funding to Malaria Consortium and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as part of the charity’s promise to help protect over one million people in Africa from malaria.^[4] This figure was raised from the British public ahead of and during Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day 2009, an event that saw nine British celebrities climb Mount Kilimanjaro in the BT Red Nose Climb to raise funds and awareness of malaria.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} www.malariaconsortium.org
2. ^ "MALARIA CONSORTIUM (Company Report)". http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/experian/04785712. 
3. ^ "Malaria Control Body Launched in London". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire / New Vision. February 5, 2004. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20255724_ITM. 
4. ^ Comic Relief invests £6.3 million to tackle malaria www.theglobalfund.com

Further reading

• Meek, S., Hill, J. and Mehra, S. (1 December 1998). "The Malaria Consortium: Converting Expertise and Partnerships into Operational Realities". Parasitology Today (Elsevier) 14 (6): 211–212. doi:10.1016/S0169-4758(98)01237-X. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S016947589801237X. 

External links

• Malaria Consortium