[Myanmar] Officials Debate Whether To Scrap Malaria Program

The future of a pricey malaria program meant to provide cheap drugs for poor patients may be in jeopardy after health officials clashed over its effectiveness in two new reports. Launched in 2010, the US $460 million Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria was tested in Cambodia and seven African nations. Last week, a report by Oxfam said there was no proof the program had saved lives because officials didn’t track who received the drugs. But a paper published in the journal Lancet said the program was “an effective mechanism†to make preferred malaria drugs widely available.—AP