Malaria Fighter Rides Bicycle into Battle with Disease, Story from Novartis

Healthcare worker Dismus Mwalukwanda is on the front line of the battle against malaria. Saving lives is his priority

Dismus Mwalukwanda works on the front line of the battle against malaria, one of the world’s deadliest diseases. He’s a community healthcare worker responsible for testing and treating patients in a remote part of rural Zambia, as well as teaching people how to combat the illness. 

Although malaria caused an estimated 584,000 deaths in 2013, mostly among African children, efforts to fight the disease are having an impact. World Health Organization figures show that malaria deaths dropped 47% between 2000 and 2013. 

Progress against the disease is thanks to a variety of factors, including the hard work of countless people like Dismus, who use rapid diagnostic tests and malaria treatments to care for people. It’s also due to greater availability of insecticide-treated bed nets that protect people from being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitos, as well as increased collaboration among the many governments, companies and non-government organizations fighting the disease. 

Read the full story on Novartis.com, https://www.novartis.com/stories/malaria-fighter-rides-bicycle-battle-disease

About the Novartis Malaria Initiative:

The Novartis Malaria Initiative drives research, development and access to novel treatments to eliminate malaria. It is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s largest access-to-medicine programs. Since 2001, the initiative has delivered more than 800 million treatments without profit, mostly to the public sector of malaria-endemic countries.

The Novartis Malaria Initiative is integrated in Novartis Social Business, a unit which includes Novartis Access, SMS for Life and the Novartis Healthy Family programs.

For more information visit www.malaria.novartis.com