Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 14:30:59 +0530 (IST) From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
A mosquito net treated with a long-lasting insecticide costs less than US$4. While we already have highly effective and well-tolerated antimalarial drugs (artemisinin-based combination treatments; ACTs) to replace those drugs such as chloroquine that have fallen to resistance. These cost less than US$1 per child treated. Less than US$20 would guarantee a poor African child access to life-saving interventions. The cost of a malaria vaccine will be in excess of US$60 per full immunisation.
I'm perplexed as to why NGOs, scientific organisations and the UNDP don't talk
about the adverse effects of artemisinin-based combination treatments.
One of these drugs, Coartem (colloquially known as "the Chinese medicine"
in Mozambique), has a horribly debilitating effect on children and many adults.
My son--who was barely a toddler at the time a doctor first recommended this
drug--collapsed and lost the use of his legs for four days. It was traumatic
to watch this happen, and those four days seemed interminable. This drug (and
others of the same family) are often called "final line of defence" drugs, i.e.
do not use them if you don't need to.
Peter D'Souza 2x Malaria survivor :-)
