WFP: Reducing the environmental footprint - NaijaAgroNet

Interview ...Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Can you introduce yourself? Where are you from, where are you based now and what is your role with WFP?

I’m half Italian and half Swiss, but I grew up in Italy. Currently, I am based in the Regional Bureau in Nairobi, working as a Regional Environmental Officer. In my role, I help Country Offices reduce and manage the environmental footprint of their operations for a more sustainable tomorrow. I do this through applying our Environmental Management System, which helps us to systematically and consistently identify, monitor, manage, and reduce our environmental footprint.
Tell us about your professional journey. 

Why did you decide to pursue a career in sustainability?

My journey in sustainability started with my Bachelor’s thesis – a research on how different countries are progressively recognizing the right of access to clean water in their constitutions. I then did a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development in the Netherlands and Germany, where I studied the basics of environmental governance, environmental economics, and natural resources management. At that time, in 2013, sustainability was not yet a buzzword and my choice of studies was a bit of a gamble since there weren’t that many jobs in the sector.

GSK, MMV positive on single-dose tafenoquine reducing malaria risk

NaijaAgroNet:

The GSK and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) has announced positive results from two phase III studies of tafenoquine, an investigational 8-aminoquinoline, for the prevention of relapse of Plasmodium vivax (P.vivax) malaria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The headline results, presented today at the International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research (ICPVR) in Manaus, Brazil, show that a single-dose of 300mg tafenoquine, when given with a 3-day blood-stage chloroquine treatment, reduced the risk of relapse in patients with P.vivax malaria significantly more than placebo when given with chloroquine.

P. vivax is one of several species of Plasmodium parasite known to cause malaria. After an infected mosquito bite, the parasite has the ability to lie dormant in the liver and periodically reactivate causing relapses of P. vivax malaria. These relapses can occur weeks or even years after the initial infection. The disease is estimated to cause around 8.5 million clinical infections every year. Each of these infections keeps a child or adult from school or work for at least 3 days.² Studies have shown that beyond lost time, malaria can also have adverse effects on cognitive ability.

Since 2008, GSK and MMV have been working together to develop single-dose tafenoquine as an alternative to the existing standard of care, primaquine, which must be taken for 14 days for patients with the relapsing form of malaria. The two phase III randomised, double-blind studies, “DETECTIVE” and “GATHER”, were conducted in malaria-endemic countries covering South America, Asia, and Africa.

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