New malaria drug launched in Africa

A new drug to combat malaria has been launched throughout Africa that is designed to treat children.

It is specially flavoured to give a cherry taste to the consumer, which is said to resemble fruit juice.

In order to appeal to children, it is also dissolvable into liquids such as water and breast milk.

Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical business, is behind the new drug, which is based on the adult malaria drug, Coartem. It has also been partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

Safiatou Thiam Sy, the Senegalese health minister, stated: "If our children accept this new form (of the malaria drug) then it will mark a major step forward."

In Africa, a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria, statistics from the World Health Organisation show.

In 2006, there were 247 million cases of malaria, which led to approximately 880,000 deaths, the majority of which were children in Africa.

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