A third of malaria drugs used around the world to stem the spread of the disease are counterfeit, data suggests.
9 ?1 P1 f) B' @0 Z0 TResearchers 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.6 W( {7 s9 [0 m* g# t, M" a
Data from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa including over 2,500 drug samples showed similar results.$ L) u" c2 N5 n, R# u# a
Experts say The Lancet Infectious Diseases research is a "wake-up call".% Y; }% Y S! [6 K& {4 X( x
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.2 P: D* S3 Y) D" S
"Most cases are probably unreported, reported to the wrong agencies, or kept confidential by pharmaceutical companies," say the researchers.
1 y9 ^5 C& N0 R1 U* Q8 Z5 \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.3 z" @4 M! X/ @
Lead researcher Gaurvika Nayyar stressed that 3.3 billion people were at risk of malaria, which is classified as endemic in 106 countries.0 o' E' l% B8 b$ H# ?) M
"Between 655,000 and 1.2 million people die every year from Plasmodium falciparum infection," he said.5 ^+ T0 o- c' ]/ g4 W9 ]
"Much of this morbidity and mortality could be avoided if drugs available to patients were efficacious, high quality, and used correctly."- X* l3 ]; Z/ Y: {9 k) K
In parts of the world where malaria is prevalent, antimalarial drugs are widely distributed and self-prescribed, both correctly and incorrectly, say the researchers. 5 B$ a7 O5 a6 \6 }1 i4 P3 l9 ~
The study found there are insufficient facilities to monitor the quality of antimalarial drugs and poor consumer and health-worker knowledge about the therapies. 5 s6 ~& b+ x, R4 h8 f
And there is a lack of regulatory oversight of manufacturing and little punitive action for counterfeiters.. E. I' [) }9 D7 ^0 h
Despite this, malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25% globally since 2000, and by 33% in the WHO African Region.
2 m( o4 [* q, n% O+ Z1 ^# fBut the World Health Organization says maintaining current rates of progress will not be enough to meet global targets for malaria control.
+ Z5 L* u5 w' _2 D" BIt is calling for renewed investment in diagnostic testing, treatment, and surveillance for malaria.
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