CIDRAP News: Malaria studies show benefit of mass treatment, methylene blue
“…In the Myanmar study, researchers from Thailand and the University of Oxford analyzed the impact of scaled-up drug administration plus early diagnosis and treatment in four townships in eastern Myanmar that have proved challenging. … The team concluded that early diagnosis and effective treatment substantially decreased drug-resistant malaria, even in remote, politically sensitive parts of Myanmar, adding that targeted mass drug administration tamped down malaria incidence in the hot spots…” (Schnirring, 4/25).

The Guardian: Dose entire population with anti-malaria drugs to eradicate disease — study
“…The Oxford University team who ran the study believe this ‘nuclear option’ is urgently needed to wipe out malaria in Southeast Asia before growing resistance to the best drugs now available — the artemisinin compounds — spreads to India and Africa. They are calling for urgent political and financial backing from donor governments and the World Health Organization. ‘It is hard. People don’t want to move outside their comfort zone of the current approaches. We need very high level political commitment and the money,’ said Professor Sir Nick White, chair of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit which ran the study and board member of the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN)…” (Boseley, 4/25).