Counterfeit malaria drugs putting lives at risk
Scientists have warned that fake and poor quality anti-malarial drugs are threatening efforts to control the disease in Africa, potentially putting millions of lives at risk.
Malaria is one of the most lethal diseases in the world, believed to kill around 800,000 people every year. As a result, developments in the pursuit of a cure feature regularly in most health news outlets – only a few weeks ago, we posted about how scientists were hopeful that they could use spermless mosquitoes to try and curb the spread of the disease.
However, experts have recently voiced their concern that counterfeit medicines are being administered that could not only harm patients, but could promote drug resistance among malaria parasites. These alarming findings are the result of a collaborative study between researchers from the Wellcome Trust, Oxford University and the Mahosot Hospital in Laos, and have been published in the Malaria Journal.
Scientists examined a sample of fake and substandard anti-malarial drugs that were found on sale in eleven African countries between 2002 and 2010, finding that some counterfeits contained a mixture of incorrect pharmaceutical ingredients. Whilst these counterfeit tablets might initially alleviate the symptoms of malaria, they would not cure it and could even cause potentially serious side effects, particularly if mixed with other drugs, such as anti-retrovirals to treat HIV.
The researchers have voiced their concern that exposure to these fake drugs could lead to the parasites developing a resistance to artemisinin, one of the most effective drugs currently being used to treat malaria. Although the drugs don’t contain the right ingredients to cure the disease, they do contain small quantities of artemisinin derivatives to ensure that they pass authenticity tests.
Dr Paul Newton, the lead researcher on the study, has called on African governments to take urgent measures to tackle counterfeit anti-malarials. He says: “Failure to take action will put at risk the lives of millions of people, particularly children and pregnant women. The enormous investment in the development, evaluation and deployment of anti-malarials is wasted if the medicines that patients actually take are, due to criminality or carelessness, of poor quality.”
As the disease is prevalent within Africa, expatriates in this region must exercise great care at all times. However, even with the greatest vigilance and caution, there is always the chance that the worst could still happen, which is why it’s hugely important to ensure both you and your family are adequately covered. William Russell offer comprehensive Global Health and Global Life insurance worldwide, but because healthcare costs are generally cheaper in the African region, we pass a saving of up to 15% on standard premiums directly to our customers.
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Source – BBC News 17 Jan 12
