Malaria No More Honors Alere’s Contributions to Diagnosing and Eliminating Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa

Alere Inc., a global leader in rapid diagnostic tests, has been honored for its leadership in the fight against malaria with a Corporate Citizenship Award.

As part of its efforts as exclusive diagnostics partner to Malaria No More’s “Power of One” campaign, Alere is donating a total of two million of its Alere SD BIOLINE Malaria tests to help accurately diagnose the disease in sub-Saharan Africa. With test results in 15 minutes from a drop of finger stick blood, the Alere SD BIOLINE Malaria test can accurately diagnose malaria at the point of care to enable the timely administration of lifesaving treatment.

Alere delivered one million tests earlier this year to health clinics in Zambia through Malaria No More's Power of One campaign. Power of One partner Novartis also supplied pediatric antimalarial treatments along with the tests. An additional one million tests will be delivered to Nigeria and Chad in 2015.

“You can’t beat an enemy you can’t see—that’s why diagnosis is a key intervention in the fight against malaria. Thanks to Alere’s pioneering work in developing accurate, rapid tests available at the point of care, we are closer than ever to being able to end this disease,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More. “We are delighted to honor Alere for its innovation, long-term commitment and outstanding contributions to the fight to eradicate malaria.”

“At Alere we believe ‘Knowing now matters™.’ Low-cost, accurate and reliable diagnostic tests allow medication to be provided in a timely manner and are part of a solution that we hope will ultimately lead to malaria eradication. We are proud to partner with Malaria No More to deploy our rapid malaria tests in support of this urgent goal,” said Alere CEO Namal Nawana.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria transmission still occurs in 97 countries¹ and 207 million people suffered from the disease, which caused an estimated 627,000 deaths in 2012, mainly among children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa.² By strengthening diagnostic testing and treatment of the disease, affected countries can substantially improve the quality of care, and eventually win the fight against malaria.

¹ WHO, Factsheet on the World Malaria Report 2013, December 2013,
http://www.who.int/malaria/media/world_malaria_report_2013/en/.
² WHO. 10 facts on malaria. http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/malaria/en/.