A third of malaria drugs used around the world to stem the spread of the disease are counterfeit, data suggests.
$ t9 {$ L$ e4 B8 q c+ xResearchers 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.
( T O7 V0 o! d& WData from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa including over 2,500 drug samples showed similar results.( D; I k7 S; `5 Y
Experts say The Lancet Infectious Diseases research is a "wake-up call".- J9 ^& {: [* u3 C. B' w
The US researchers from the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health who carried out the work believe the problem may even be much greater than data suggests.3 ]0 w2 g6 K2 |) l6 h+ C8 V% ^
"Most cases are probably unreported, reported to the wrong agencies, or kept confidential by pharmaceutical companies," say the researchers.2 F7 R; v2 z3 @: T
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.1 ]' c& H/ k$ z1 F5 E$ A/ C
Lead researcher Gaurvika Nayyar stressed that 3.3 billion people were at risk of malaria, which is classified as endemic in 106 countries.
4 r `# b1 z `8 g' r, ~% `"Between 655,000 and 1.2 million people die every year from Plasmodium falciparum infection," he said.
2 X) c1 ^, D; r S3 |) x"Much of this morbidity and mortality could be avoided if drugs available to patients were efficacious, high quality, and used correctly."
- L# ^4 O8 N2 @: ZIn parts of the world where malaria is prevalent, antimalarial drugs are widely distributed and self-prescribed, both correctly and incorrectly, say the researchers. . b9 {* H0 J7 e" K
The study found there are insufficient facilities to monitor the quality of antimalarial drugs and poor consumer and health-worker knowledge about the therapies. * H* y$ |8 C3 g. w7 F" }' I
And there is a lack of regulatory oversight of manufacturing and little punitive action for counterfeiters.- W1 s [- }8 {+ Q( Q
Despite this, malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25% globally since 2000, and by 33% in the WHO African Region.
7 D4 U4 g( H9 Z5 e. U* l) lBut the World Health Organization says maintaining current rates of progress will not be enough to meet global targets for malaria control.
( k# W0 f$ |' G! ^/ xIt is calling for renewed investment in diagnostic testing, treatment, and surveillance for malaria.+ n" {% M' y" [2 z: W; w% n$ ?
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* D# X% C8 v/ }) {2013医学考博英语真题必备" a' _5 l/ ~3 h
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