Poor quality of drugs blamed for undermining the fight against malaria

It is said that this ‘black market’ industry has made it impossible for the needy individuals to purchase affordable drugs especially in developing countries where Kenya has been a victim.

Poor quality of drugs has been blamed for undermining the fight against malaria.

The disease kills up to 30,000 every year in the country.

It is said that this ‘black market’ industry has made it impossible for the needy individuals to purchase affordable drugs especially in developing countries where Kenya has been a victim.

As documented in a report published by The Lancet on April 21, 2018 where five levels of antimalarial therapy medicine were analysed, 1,865 of the 10, 198 samples tested were substandard.

The medicines include quinolone derivatives (such as chloroquine, quinine and amodiaquine); ant folates (like pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine); artemisinin, antibiotics and Artemisinin combination based therapies famously known as ACTs.

The group with the highest percentage of failed antimalarial medicine were the antifoliates(27 per cent) followed by artemisinin based monotherapies(24), quinine drugs(21), ACTs(17) and antibiotics(eight per cent).

The reported noted that the reason why patients seek a particular treatment for malaria are based on price, availability and efficacy.

“If high quality medicines are supplied at an affordable price patients may find less reason to purchase cheaper, lower quality alternates,” the report read.

It was noted that since 90 per cent of patients in developing countries pay for treatment themselves for they have no insurance, it is important to keep prices affordable.

“Falsified medicine target the genuine medicine supply chains to infiltrate legitimate markets,” said the report by the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, conducted by the University of Canbera in Australia.

In March, the Ministry of health had to come out and assure the public on safety of a malaria drug Duo cotexin.

The Ministry further denied reports that the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has recalled the drug but said it has launched investigations into a particular batch of the medicine whose quality had been questioned after some sample tests.

According to the report, the percentage of failed ACTs has increased from 15 per cent in 2010 to 21 per cent in 2016.

“This trend may be due to ACTs being the recommended first line treatment for malaria infection in malaria endemic countries,” the report explained.

World Health Organisation(WHO) in 2014 noted that the continued use of oral artemisinin based monotherapies is a major contributor to resistance since artemisinin is a key ingredient in manufacture of ACTs urging countries to withdraw from the market the related drugs.

Kenya was among the compliant countries in a list released by WHO in October 2017 of members who have authorized withdrawal of artemisinin monotherapy drugs in the market.