Healthcare firm Novartis has launched an anti-malaria campaign entitled The Power of One in partnership with Malaria No More.
The firm will support the campaign financially and donate up to three million Coartem Dispersible treatments to match antimalarials funded by the public, in a bid to help end child deaths from malaria.
Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, but it still kills a child every minute. It is estimated that 436 million additional treatments will be needed to treat malaria patients across Africa between now and the end of 2015. The Power of One campaign aims to address this treatment gap through direct donations and existing government commitments. Every dollar donated to the campaign will buy and deliver a treatment to a child diagnosed with malaria.
Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis, said: “We need more help to close the treatment gap and Power of One offers everyone a chance to engage and make a difference for children suffering from malaria.”
Harnessing social, mobile, and e-commerce technologies, Power of One enables the public to purchase a treatment and track the journey of a treatment. Donors will be able to see the effect of their donation on the ground, share information with their networks and recruit other donors.
“It’s unacceptable that a child dies every minute for lack of a dollar’s worth of treatment,” said Martin Edlund, CEO, Malaria No More. “We’re urging the world to join the Power of One campaign and to donate and engage their friends in this fight.”
Novartis is the exclusive treatment sponsor of the Power of One campaign, joining some of the world’s most innovative companies. Additional sponsors include Alere Inc., which will provide malaria rapid diagnostic tests, 21st Century Fox, AHAlife.com, Causes.com, Time Warner, Twitter, Venmo and others. Zambia will be the first country to receive deliveries of treatments and tests as a result of the Power of One campaign.
Since 2009, Novartis has delivered 200 million treatments of its pediatric antimalarial Coartem Dispersible without profit to more than 50 malaria-endemic countries. The 200 millionth treatment was delivered to Zambia, which also received the first consignment of Novartis treatments for the Power of One campaign, raised during World Malaria Day on April 25, 2013.
