Malaysian scientists seek cures from nature

Star: PUTRAJAYA: Malaysian scientists are looking to nature for cures where chemical or synthetic drugs have failed.
They have joined a worldwide partnership that is fighting pathogens that developed a resistance to modern drugs.
The Health Ministry and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry have started working with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) on the matter.
Central to their efforts will be identifying new compounds in marine, plant and other biological material.
Malaysian Institute of Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals director Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Isa Abd Majid said the problem in conventional medicine was the resistance that pathogens developed to them over time.
"In order for us to come up with new and effective drugs, we have to go back to natural resources. It is like taking one step back to move two steps forward," he said at the start of a DNDi conference here yesterday.
DNDi works with governments and the pharmaceutical industry to identify potential new cures for development.
The institute, which is under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, is one of the participating agencies in the three-day conference, which will discuss neglected diseases and identify natural substances that can be used in their treatment.
Dr Mohamed Isa said Malaysia decided to collaborate with DNDi as the country is one of 12 mega-biodiversity sites in the world and could offer its natural resources for medical cures.
The collaboration will also help Malaysia’s own goals under the National Biotechnology Policy to enhance capacity in research and development.
Neglected diseases refer to those diseases which threaten the majority of the world’s population but for which little research and funding has been invested.
The term also refers to a disease for which treatment is available but not affordable due to the high cost, such as HIV/AIDS.
Other neglected diseases include sleeping sickness or the Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), which threatens populations in sub-Saharan Africa, Kala-Azar disease or visceral Leshmaniasis which affects the Indian subcontinent, Brazil and Sudan; and the Chagas disease or trypanosomiasis, which is common in South America.
These diseases are fatal and most often afflict poor communities.
Dr Mohamed Isa said "only 10 per cent of global research and development funding have gone into 90 per cent of the world’s problems".
The majority of research and funding has gone into "first world" diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and neurological problems, he added.
He said in Malaysia, malaria, dengue and HIV/AIDS were considered the major neglected diseases.
Although these have been around for some time, little research has gone into developing new treatments while in the case of HIV/AIDS, the medication available is still costly for large segments of the population.