Mass drug administration for malaria was well accepted by communities at high risk of malaria in Zanzibar, with high participation and completion rates.
Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) has revolutionised malaria treatment. ACTs combine an artemisinin derivative (a relatively new group of very effective drugs with another longer-lasting drug from another class to try to reduce the risk of further resistance developing. ACTs cure over 90% of people; they also act against malaria gametocytes, so potentially reduce transmission.
The paper concludes with advice on practical considerations, including questionnaire design, field worker training, and data collection. Survey materials developed by ACTwatch for investigating anti-malarial markets in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia provide a helpful resource for future studies in this area.
In this opinion paper, the requirements for the continued success of ACTs, their role in this transition, and possible new ways of using these drugs in an elimination setting are discussed. ACTs have an important role to play in maintaining the current success of control programs, and may also drive these successes forward into the widespread elimination of malaria.
This week I was contacted by Dr. Dana Dalrymple with a very unusual offer. He wishes to provide all MalariaWorld subscribers free access to his book 'Artemisia annua, Artemisinin, ACTs & Malaria Control in Africa' published just seven months ago. This is truly remarkable and we highly appreciate this gesture!
MalariaWorld received a request from Africa Fighting Malaria (AFM) to alert its subscribers to the recent publication of its policy paper titled: 'The Global Fund's Malaria Medicine Subsidy: A nice idea with nasty implications'...
Most of us that have worked in the field of malaria for a few decades have gone through periods where we suddenly noticed changes in drug policy. When chloroquine was replaced by sulfadoxine-pyremethamine as a first-line drug, later to be replaced by artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs).
But the world is now faced with a new challenge. That of preventing artemisinin resistance from escaping south-east Asia. Without anything to replace it (yet), this is a looming catastrophe, according to Joel Breman in an interview with TropIKA.net. It may still be confined to the Thai-Cambodia border, although nobody really nows have far it has spread.
Although ACTs are recommended as first line treatment for uncomplicated malaria, actual use of ACT is very limited, partly due to its high price in pharmacies and retail stores. The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm), a donor-funded global price subsidy, has been proposed as a strategy to increase ACT use in malaria-endemic countries. Given that donor-supported ACT subsidy schemes are costly, it is crucial to ensure that they have their intended impact.
