PSI

Mortality due to malaria, currently estimated at over a million people per year, has risen in recent years, probably due to increasing resistance to antimalarial medicines. The affordable and widely available antimalarial chloroquine that was in the past a mainstay of malaria control is now ineffective in most falciparum malaria endemic areas, and resistance to sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine is increasing rapidly.

The discovery and development of the artemisinin derivatives in China, and their evaluation in South-East Asia and other regions, have provided a new class of highly effective antimalarials. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are now generally considered as the best current treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria 1.

Increasing access to quality assured ACTs is the single most important intervention for reducing malaria mortality today. WHO has produced treatment guidelines which recommend specific ACTs for which there is adequate evidence of efficacy and safety and which are unlikely to be affected by resistance in the near future.

Despite the existence of highly effective ACTs, a key challenge to improving access to ACTs is the lack of evidence on the price, availability, volumes as well as retailer perceptions and incentives along the supply chain.

To provide policymakers with evidence on trends in availability, price, and use of antimalarials, PSI launched ACTwatch, research project in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

1. 1. WHO Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria: http://apps.who.int/malaria/docs/TreatmentGuidelines2006.pdf

Archived in
Health Areas: Child Survival, Malaria