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In tropical countries malaria kills more than a million people every year. The majority are children. That means, a person dies of malaria somewhere in the world at least every 30 seconds. One could suggest that the mosquito Anopheles, or Plasmodium falciparum, is the worst terrorist in the world! The money spent in the war against the terrorism of malaria is tiny compared with the Even so, great advances have been made in pharmaceutical technology, but still many of the poorest people in the world continue to suffer from this terrorist. The pharmaceutical industry can make bigger profits in other areas, and northern governments prefer to give priority to their own economies. There is a way forward, however, for those more concerned about health than profit, and more concerned about local economic development than Gross National Product. It is with Artemisia annua anamed (A-3), which can be grown by small-scale farmers, and by health centres and hospitals in their medicinal gardens. The leaves are then used to make artemisia tea, which has proven itself to be a very effective treatment for malaria. Most patients also claim that, following treatment with artemisia tea, the interval before the next malaria attack becomes much longer. Compared with modern pharmaceuticals, and even with artemisinin based drugs, the tea contains a wider range of antimalarial components. This reduces the danger of resistance developing. As of January 2011 the Anamed Artemisia Programme includes over 1200 people who have purchased seeds of Artemisia annua anamed for cultivation in more than 75 countries. They use artemisia to treat malaria and other diseases. Feedback from our partners is then shared via circular letters (see below) so that our pool of common knowledge and experience is continually increasing. Treatment of malaria Read here a detailed account of How to treat malaria with tea from Artemisia annua anamed The most effective, modern drugs for the treatment of malaria contain artemisinin, which the pharmaceutical industry extracts from plantations of Artemisia annua, mostly in China and East Africa. Resistance has already occurred in some cases where artemisinin has been used alone, for example in drugs such as Artesunate or Artenam. The World Health Organisation now recommends that drugs be produced which combine artemisinin with another antimalarial in what is known as “Artemisinin Combination Therapy” or ACT drugs. The best known such drug is named Coartem in Africa and Riamet in Europe, and is a combination of artemisinin and lumefantrine. Our experience in anamed is that artemisia tea is comparable to Coartem in its effectiveness in treating malaria. Our conviction is that artemisia tea is far less likely to lead to resistance than the use of all ACT drugs. anamed has received criticism from many quarters because we very energetically promote the use of artemisia tea for malaria and other health problems - but we very honestly believe that we are doing the best possible thing! Please read “The significance of artemisia tea” to see a full list of our very positive arguments. Other anamed papers regarding the use of artemisia tea for malaria We receive many enquiries about the use of artemisia tea as a malaria prophylaxis. For this reason we have produced this paper to give the best possible guidelines on this subject: Of course anamed would like to see Artemisia annua being cultivated and used in many more communities and by many more hospitals. This paper describes the vision that artemisia could become central to the treatment of malaria throughout any given country in more detail. A possible malaria programme in tropical countries The use of artemisia tea for the treatment of malaria is often the subject of criticism, because no authoritative clinical trials have been conducted. This is of course regrettable because artemisia tea is, in our opinion, the best possible means to enabling families, communities and hospitals to become almost self-sufficient in their treatment of malaria. This paper, from 2000, is still the most significant piece of research that has been done along the lines of a clinical study. Clinical Results of the Use of Artemisia annua tea Read also our anamed artemisia programme circular letters Other papers and articles concerning Artemisia annua and malaria April 2011. “Evaluation and pharmacovigilance of projects promoting cultivation and local use of Artemisia annua for malaria” by Merlin Willcox et al. This paper describes the results of interviews with and feedback from anamed partners in Uganda and Kenya. April 2010: ICEI held a one day symposium in Rome; “Fighting Malaria in Africa and Artemisia annua L. Infusion”. The powerpoint presentations can be read online. March 2010: Day workshop organised by anamed, RITAM and Green Templeton College in Oxford, UK: “Artemisia annua for the treatment of malaria”. November 2009: Read the paper ““Silver Bullet” Drugs vs. Traditional Herbal Remedies: Perspectives on Malaria” by Kevin Spelman” which was published in the journal Herbalgram, number 84, November 2009. The paper presents good reasons for the use of whole plant extracts, rather than the use of single isolated components. November 2008. The British Medical Journal published an article that indicates that ACT drugs are not accessible or affordable in Uganda - even though they are technically available free of charge. Doctors Simon Challand and Merlin Willcox, who have experience of using herbal antimalarials in Africa, have made a very appropriate response. Read more .. For a more detailed justification of anamed’s work in general and with Artemisia annua in particular, click here 2005, “Traditional Medicinal plants and malaria” edited by Merlin Willcox, Gerard Bodeker and Philippe Rasoanaivo, CRC Press. This is a detailed summary of many anti-malarial plants. Of particular interest is chapter 3, which is entitled “Artemisia annua as a complete herbal anti-malarial” and was written by Merlin Willcox, Hans-Martin Hirt and others. July 2005: Read an account written by the World Agroforestry Centre “Home grown cure for malaria” in Transformations, , Page 3 (This site takes a few moments to appear) |
money spent in the world on guns and bombs.