Artimesian Molecule (03:53)

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In the Chongqing province in Southwestern China, Holley Pharm, which specializes in plant based medicines, cultivates artemisia annua for antimalarial drugs. This drug was developed by Chinese scientists in Vietcong during the Vietnam War, but is thirty times more expensive than older malaria treatments.

Malaria Treatments in Africa (05:35)

Burkina Faso is benefiting from new antimalarial drugs, but artemisinin is not widely available; most doctors in the developing world still utilize older drugs, such as chloroquine. Dr. Chris Hentschel, from the Medicines for Malaria Venture, and Dr. Alfred Tiono are administering the drug on a trial bases.

Creating Better Artemisia Annua (05:42)

Dr. Nelson Tan from Holley Pharm tours the plant dedicated to the extraction of artemisinin. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has funded a venture to make artemisia annua more effective; Dr. Dianna Bowles is confident the plant variants will be ten times more productive and lower the medicine’s cost.

Malaria Treatments Bright Future (05:44)

Certain African countries, such as Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, have begun growing artemisia annua. Tiono and Hentschel visit several malaria patients, one is healing quickly on the new drug, and the other is still suffering from his illness and taking the old antimalarials.

Credits: New Weapon Against Malaria (00:06)

Credits: New Weapon Against Malaria