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PLoS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 6(11) November 2009

Time for a "third wave" of malaria activism to tackle the drug stock-out crisis.

In this month's Editorial, the PLoS Medicine editors argue that there are signs of an evolving "malaria activism" that is akin to AIDS activism. There have been two "waves" of successful malaria activism, they say. In the first wave, activists highlighted the gap between the huge burden of malaria and the tiny amount of international development assistance dedicated to its control. Such advocacy helped motivate donors to increase their malaria commitments. The second wave focused on making sure that the extra funding was used to purchase highly efficacious artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) rather than monotherapies such as chloroquine, which are largely ineffective in Africa. It's now time, say the editors, for a "third wave" of activism, to highlight the widespread ACT stock-outs (shortages) across Africa, a crisis that can have deadly consequences.

Image Credit: Gavin Yamey

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Time for a "third wave" of malaria activism to tackle the drug stock-out crisis.

In this month's Editorial, the PLoS Medicine editors argue that there are signs of an evolving "malaria activism" that is akin to AIDS activism. There have been two "waves" of successful malaria activism, they say. In the first wave, activists highlighted the gap between the huge burden of malaria and the tiny amount of international development assistance dedicated to its control. Such advocacy helped motivate donors to increase their malaria commitments. The second wave focused on making sure that the extra funding was used to purchase highly efficacious artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) rather than monotherapies such as chloroquine, which are largely ineffective in Africa. It's now time, say the editors, for a "third wave" of activism, to highlight the widespread ACT stock-outs (shortages) across Africa, a crisis that can have deadly consequences.

Image Credit: Gavin Yamey

https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pmed.v06.i11.g001