The Artemisinin Enterprise Conference
York 8th-10th October

Meeting the Malaria Treatment Challenge: Effective introduction of new technologies for a sustainable supply of ACTs

The conference report is now available online (see left hand link). Hard copies available on request (eb526@york.ac.uk)

Introduction

The focus of the Artemisinin Enterprise (AE) Conference, which was co-sponsored by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, was the role of the AE and the new technologies that the three partners are developing for introduction into the Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) supply chain. Delegates to the meeting included stakeholders from the entire supply chain, from growers to producers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and ACT manufacturers as well as representatives from malaria-endemic countries, international technical organizations, and other relevant contributors.

The objectives of the conference were to:

• Inform stakeholders in the supply chain about the technology projects undertaken by the AE
• Assess the potential impacts of the new technologies – opportunities and challenges
• Explore the timelines for introduction of the new AE technologies, strategies for their effective introduction and integration into the supply chain
• Define how the AE can interface with the efforts of the Roll Back Malaria Procurement and Supply Chain Management (RBM-PSM) and Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm) working groups, and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) Access group

(Find out more about the Artemisinin Enterprise) 

Structure of the meeting

The meeting, which was held over a period of two and a half days, included presentations, panel discussions and a breakout session.  Stakeholders representing all the relevant sectors participated in the breakout groups.  The major output from the conference came from these groups.  They:

• Provided new understanding of the impact of the new technologies; discuss potential challenges that may result from their introduction
• Proposed strategies to overcome these problems and suggest actions needed to ensure effective progress

There was also an opportunity to visit the facilities of the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) at the University of York and meet the CNAP Artemisia Research Project team.

The discussions and recommendations of the AE Conference will be assimilated into a final report that will be shared with the attendees and global stakeholder community (including RBM-PSM, AMFm Task Force and MMV Access group).

View presentations on the Internet

Powerpoint slides and webcast videos of presentations are now available through the left hand menu.

We welcome views and comments on the content of the presentations and on issues regarding the integration of new Artemisinin Enterprise technologies into the supply chain, leading to a sustainable supply of artemisinin combination therapies.

Your comments can be sent to CNAP-Artemisia@york.ac.uk.