Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a network of Public-Private Partnership based in Geneva, has been working with several Indian Institutes to speed up the process of developing drugs to fight malaria, MMV Executive Vice-president (Operations) Diana Cotran has said.
Speaking at the awards ceremony of the MMV Drawing Competition here on Friday, Ms. Cotran said it had taken 15 years to develop the drugs. MMV had been working with several research institutes in the world, including those in India to speed up the process. It was working with the National Institute of Malaria Research and with the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research. Four years ago, the MMV had carried out clinical trials with the assistance of Kasturba Medical College, she said.
Ms. Cotran said the MMV had been working in malaria-affected areas in countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, and India. Since 1999, the MMV had worked with around 280 scientists and partnered with organisations in about 50 countries.
Appreciating the paintings by children, Ms. Cotran said they revealed a lot of things and showed a commitment to fight Malaria. Dean of Kasturba Medical College M.V. Prabhu and S. Nandagopal, the convenor of Centre for Integrated Learning, spoke.
Earlier, a group of students presented a song on malaria prevention. This was followed by a skit and Yakshagana on the same theme. Prizes were given to 10 of 100 best paintings drawn by the children. As many as 5,642 children from 24 schools participated in the drawing competition, which had been held recently for those aged between 10 and 15.
