In Myanmar’s mountainous northern provinces, drug-resistant malaria parasites are within sight of the country’s border with India. If they spread to the subcontinent and further into Africa — as has happened in the past — “millions of lives” could be at risk, along with global efforts to control and eradicate the deadly disease.
A study published Friday in Lancet Infectious Diseases, and coordinated by the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Bangkok, looked at samples from 55 treatment centers in Myanmar — 940 malaria infection samples overall — and found that 39 percent of them carried a mutation enabling resistance to artemisinin, a front-line treatment against malaria and key weapon in the global control and eradication effort.
“Myanmar is considered the front line in the battle against artemisinin resistance as it forms a gateway for resistance to spread to the rest of the world,” said Dr. Charles Woodrow, senior author of the study at Oxford University, in a press release.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
