One third of malaria drugs "counterfeit"
Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:39 Muna Tesfai Health >>> . A third of malaria drugs used around the world are counterfeit, data suggests. A team of researchers from the United States who looked at 1,500 samples of seven malaria drugs from seven countries in South East Asia say poor-quality and fake tablets are causing drug resistance and treatment failure. Data from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa including over 2,500 drug samples showed similar results. Experts say The Lancet Infectious Diseases research is a "wake-up call". The researchers from National Institutes of Health believe the problem may even be much greater than data suggests. "Most cases are probably unreported, reported to the wrong agencies, or kept confidential by pharmaceutical companies," say the researchers. No large studies of drug quality have been carried out in China or India - countries that house a third of the world's population and are a "probable" source of many counterfeit drugs as well as genuine antimalarial medicines, they say. Lead researcher Gaurvika Nayyar stressed that 3.3 billion people were at risk of malaria, which is classified as endemic in 106 countries. In parts of the world where malaria is prevalent, antimalarial drugs are widely distributed and self-prescribed, both correctly and incorrectly, say the researchers. The study found there are insufficient facilities to monitor the quality of antimalarial drugs and poor consumer and health-worker knowledge about the therapies. And there is a lack of regulatory oversight of manufacturing and little punitive action for counterfeiters. Despite this, malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25% globally since 2000, and by 33% in the WHO African Region. But the World Health Organization says maintaining current rates of progress will not be enough to meet global targets for malaria control. It is calling for renewed investment in diagnostic testing, treatment, and surveillance for malaria. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
