Biomedical Research in Developing Countries - UNICRI

In Africa, currently the region of the world which is most suffering from the
consequences of poverty, disease and underdevelopment, about four million children
under the age of five die annually, two-thirds from communicable diseases or
diseases connected to poor hygienic conditions and to lack of clean water. Here,
Malaria accounts for 80% of the global burden of diseases and remains the primary
cause of death in children, even though relatively inexpensive interventions, such as
insecticide-treated nets, and the artemisinin-based combination therapies have
proven to drastically reduce morbidity and mortality. 8 , 9
In the above-cited WHO report for 2008, maternal mortality ratio, that indicates
safety of pregnancy and childbirth, equals to 9 in developed countries, 450 in
developing countries and 900 in sub-Saharan Africa, every 100.000 live births.
Thanks to the progresses of antiretroviral therapy, AIDS progression in currently
under control in developed countries. Yet, in Sub-Saharan Africa, where, in 2007,
more than three quarters (76%) of all AIDS-related deaths occurred and where more
than two thirds (68%) of all people infected with HIV are living, these treatments
are still not made easily accessible. According to UNAIDS, in developing and
transitional countries, 9.7 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS
drugs; of these, only 2.99 million (31%) are receiving them. By the end of 2007,
Africa accounted for 11.6 million AIDS orphans.
Table 3 - Regional statistics for HIV & AIDS, end of 2007
Region
Adults & children
living with
HIV/AIDS
Adults & children
newly infected
Adult
prevalence*
Deaths of
adults &
children
Sub-Saharan Africa
22.0 million
1,9 million
5.0 %
1,5 million
North Africa & Middle East
380,000
40,000
0.3 %
27,000
Asia
5 million
380,000
0.3 %
380,000
Oceania
74,00
13,000
0.4 %
1,000
Latin America
1.7 million
140,000
0.5 %
63,000
Caribbean
230,000
20,000
1.1 %
14,000
Eastern Europe
& Central Asia
1.5 million
110,000
0.8 %
58,000
North America,Western
& Central Europe
2.0 million
81,000
0.4 %
31,000
Global Total
33,0 million
2,7 million
0.8 %
2,0 million
Source: UNAIDS
8 Bhattarai A. et al., Impact of artemisinin-based combination therapy and insecticide-treated nets on malaria burden
in Zanzibar, PLoS Medicine, 2007, Vol. 4, No. 11, Pages 1784–1790
9 WHO, Global Malaria Program Surveillance, Monitoring, and Evaluation Unit, Impact of long-lasting
insecticidal-treated nets (LLINs) and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) measured using surveillance data,
in four African countries, Preliminary report based on four country visits, 2008
109