Message from our Director - end of 2013
13 December 2013
As we wrap up the year, Professor David Schellenberg shares news of recent developments and plans for 2014 in the ACT Consortium.
Since 2008 our investigators have been working on 25 projects across 10 countries in Africa and Asia. We are addressing key research questions to help optimise the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), the first-line treatment for falciparum malaria recommended by WHO.
ACT Consortium members have met many of you at key events during the year, including at the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Conference in Durban, South Africa. The Consortium hosted five symposia, presenting key findings on the implementation of rapid diagnostic tests in different health sectors, the role of drug shops and the interactions between antimalarial and antiretroviral drugs.
I'm delighted to invite you to explore our revamped website. Our homepage presents an infographic video that summarises the work we do to improve access to and targeting of ACTs, and to assess their quality and safety. Please also have a look at our updated project profiles - many of them including short videos - and our multimedia section. You can browse through the more than 50 journal articles published so far and use our Venn generator tool to illustrate your own data on how well ACTs are targeted to people with malaria.
I look forward to sharing many more research outputs with you in 2014, including a number of cross-project analyses. In the meantime, you can help ensure that our results have maximal impact by encouraging your colleagues and networks to subscribe to our newsletter. Together we can drive home the benefits of improved malaria control for the good of all those in endemic communities.
With best wishes for a happy end to 2013 and a successful and effective 2014.
David Schellenberg
