Parasitological Research
MARA/ ARMA
The fundamental objective of MARA/ARMA is to establish an atlas of the spatial epidemiology of malaria in Africa. This will provide support for the planning and implementation of research into and control of malaria in any given region, since the distribution and transmission intensity of malaria in Africa are far from homogenous.
It relies on two complementary approaches:
- the formation of a continental database of available malariometric data representing precisely geographically positioned survey data from published and unpublished sources in 44 countries;
- the development of environmentally determined models of continental limits of transmission risk, in order to supplement the data collection of empirical data in areas where no such data exists.
This will provide a continental perspective of where? (distribution), why? (environmental determinants), how much? (transmission) and when?(seasonality).
For the data collection process, MARA/ARMA has equipped five regional centres and several sub-regional centres with the GIS skills, software and data sets necessary to geo-reference the collected data. Existing malaria survey data are being collected from published and unpublished sources, through extensive searches of literature, archives, universities, ministries, research organisations, and through personal communications where appropriate. This baseline database will be used to create and/or validate models which answer the basic questions outlined above.
The maps of malaria models have been integrated with other data sets such as administrative and population boundaries, and will provide national governments, donors, researchers and international agencies with a more empirical basis for evidence-based, strategic planning for malaria control.
Progress
- African Plasmodium parasites resistant to sulphadoxine, emerged relatively recently and independently from the South East Asian resistant parasites.
- It was demonstrated that the molecular basis for sulphadoxine resistance differs between East and West Africa.
- The first detailed maps showing the emergence and spread of SP mutations in Africa have been created.
- This study shares data with World Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), whose goal is to establish a global antimalarial resistance data repository.
MARA/ARMA website: http://www.mara.org.za
MARA Collaborators
Cameroun: Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte Contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC), Yaoundé
Etienne Fondjo, data coordinator / co-investigator
Georges Soula, coordinator
Pascal Ringwald, co-investigator
Cote d'Ivoire: West African Rice Development Association (WARDA), Bouaké
Thomas Teuscher, coinvestigator
Ghana: Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo
Fred Binka, coinvestigator
Martin Adjuik, data coordinator
Kenya: KEMRI / Wellcome Trust, Collaborative Programme, Nairobi
Bob Snow , coinvestigator
Judy Omumbo, data coordinator
Mali: Faculté de Médecine de Pharmacie et d'OtondoStomatologie, Université duMali, Bamako
Yéya Tiémoko Touré, coinvestigator
Magaran Bagayoko, data coordinator
Mozambique: Ministry of Health, Maputo
Ricardo Thompson, data coordinator
South Africa: South African Medical Research Council, Durban
Marlies Craig, GIS coordinator & principal investigator
Ishen Seocharan, IT development
Brian Sharp, coinvestigator & Highland Malaria Project
Carrin Martin, administrative support
Tanzania: Tanzania Essential Health Interventions Project (TEHIP) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Dar es Salaam
Don de Savigny, coinvestigator
Rose Lusinde, data coordinator
Zambia: National Malaria Control Centre, Lusaka
John Chimumbwa, data-coordinator
Support Centre: Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland
Christian Lengeler, coinvestigator
Highlands Malaria Project: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
Jonathan Cox, coinvestigator
Other specialists:
Entomology: Maureen Coetzee, South
African Institute for Medical Research, Johannesburg, South Africa
Demography: Uwe Deichmann, National Centre for Geographic Information and Analysis, University of California, USA
Statistics : Immo Kleinschmidt, South African Medical Research Council, Durban, South Africa
Eleanor Gouws, South African Medical Research Council, Durban, South Africa
Tom Smith, Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland
Peter Clark, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Remote sensing: Simon Hay, Oxford University, UK
Monica Meyers, NASA, Greenbelt, USA
Steven Connor, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
Economy: Helen Guyatt, Oxford University, UK
Burden of Disease: Alan Lopez, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland
Drug resistance: Peter Bloland, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA