Sandoz provides penicillin for Zambian heart disease study

Sandoz has announced the provision of 25,000 units of benzathine penicillin to support a new rheumatic heart disease study in Zambia.

The company has provided a supply of lifesaving medicines to the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka to support the research project, which will be carried out by the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR).

In collaboration with Zambian authorities, the NIBR will screen 3,000 young people between the ages of six and 21 for rheumatic heart disease at 50 public schools in the Lusaka area using echocardiography.

Following this, disease prevalence and heart disease-positive children will be enrolled into a multi-year follow-up programme to monitor adherence to penicillin treatment and disease progression among patients.

Sandoz said: "The UN lists 'reduce child mortality' and 'improve maternal health' as two of eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by the end of 2015. Sandoz is committed to supporting the achievement of these goals."

This comes after the firm pledged to provide long-term global supplies of amoxicillin 250 mg dispersible tablets to developing countries earlier this year in order to assist the UN's new Every Newborn Action Plan.