A Case Study: How the Rephaiah Project Combats Malaria in Young Children
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equipment, be that operational-, manufacturing- or analytical equipment. This could
e.g. be done by inviting an employee of Rephaiah to visit your company or your
university, or by providing on-site training in Malawi.
3. Quality assurance: As the Rephaiah entity will follow international standards in all
aspects of the organization, ongoing training concerning the following points will be
necessary: (a) Good Manufacturing Standards (GMP); (b) Good Laboratory Practice
(GLP); (c)Good Documentation Practice (GDP); (d) Good Transportation Practice
(GTP) this also includes distribution; (e) Good Clinical Practice (GCP); (f) Good
Financial Practice (GFP) and transparency; (g) Good Business Practice (GBP); (h)
Good Safety Practice (GSP). Also, different ISO standards concerning e.g. sustain-
ability, environmental, organizational and industrial requirements will need to be
met. We welcome tools, advice, training, and other help in this area.
4. Advice and consultation: As Rephaiah works towards the UN Sustainability De-
velopment Goals, the company will be looking at: (a) different aspects of sustain-
ability; (b) green chemistry such as 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) were purifying
water, solvents and other chemicals and minimize waste is a high priority; (c) being
environmentally friendly, by using biodegradable packaging materials and reducing
the use of plastic; (d) carbon footprints, especially with respect to energy consum-
ing operations such as the ventilation system and transportation; (e) management,
including subjects such as teamwork, psychologically healthy workplaces etc.; (f)
pediatric pharmacy, such as pharmacokinetics in infants and children, malnourished
children, children with different health conditions etc.; (g) illiteracy, because of the
need to provide information that is understandable and can be followed by illiterate,
as well as literate people (e.g. prescription guidelines). All advice in these areas is
welcome.
5. Volunteers: if you want to be hands on getting the Rephaiah Project in Malawi up
and running, please let us know and together we will figure out the best way to do
so. We are thankful for your help whether it is in Malawi or in your home country.
The Rephaiah Project’s contact information: If you are interested in supporting this project,
we would love to hear from you at [[email protected]].
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CONCLUSION
Malaria is a serious disease that can be life-threatening, especially for children in the
age group of 0 - 5 years. It affects a large percentage of the population of Malawi each year,
particularly during the months of November to April. The very dense Malawian population
is quite widespread over the country and in rural areas access to medical services can be
difficult. Infants and young children that get infected with malaria, are as a group hit hard
because they are not only at more risk of getting severe malaria and even cerebral malaria,
but also malarial medicine does not come in dosage forms suitable for this age group. Not
getting the right drugs can have a long lasting neurological and/or behavioral impact on
young children that get severe and cerebral malaria.