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Government has advised people to take Artesunate, commonly referred to as Arinate, together with another drug for the effective treatment of Malaria and not as a single drug because one risks developing resistance to the Malaria parasite and may not cure the disease.
Dr Storn Kabuluzi, Programme Manager for National Malaria Control Programme, explained in an interview last week that Artesunate is a new and good drug for Malaria treatment but it is being misused.
“This drug, just like any other drug, comes with World Health Organization guidelines on how to take it for effective treatment and these are not being followed in Malawi at the moment. The recommendation is that Artesunate should be taken with another drug for effective treatment,” Kabuluzi said.
“For example, Artesunate can be taken with Amodiquinine for effective treatment or any other anti-malarial drug. As government we are in the process of coming up with possible combinations of anti-malaria drugs to go with this drug,” he said.
Kabuluzi said government is worried that the continued use of Artesunate as a single drug for treatment may develop resistance to kill the Malaria parasite and may render the drug useless in the near future.
He said government has noticed that some private hospitals, clinics and pharmacies are giving out this drug as a single drug for the treatment instead of giving it out with a combination of another drug to go with it.
“If we lose the usefulness of this drug, what are we going to survive on when Fansidar SP is increasing its resistance. Artesunate may be the drug for the future in Malawi and we need to keep its usefulness with the right regulation with another drug,” said Kabuluzi.
Malaria is the number one killer disease in children and women in sub Saharan Africa.
In Malawi, records show that about 8 million malaria cases are treated per year, with 40 percent of every 100 cases treated as out patients. The records also indicate that 20 out of every 100 deaths reported in hospitals are linked to Malaria.
Currently government recognizes SP as the first line treatment for Malaria and Quinine as the effective second line.
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