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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : December 10, 2012 12:24 PM IST
2.6 per cent of all WHO-approved artemisinin-based anti-malaria drugs are substandard worldwide, as they have less than the prescribed quantity of active ingredient, a study by the American Enterprise Institute has found. It is highest in China with 12.3 per cent and with India, the figure stands at 4 per cent.
Taking precautions to eliminate counterfeit products from among its samples, the study published in the Malaria World Journal examined 1,203 artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) out of which 684 were produced by WHO-approved manufacturers and 519 by non-WHO approved ones. It noted that 2.6 per cent (18/684) of the ACTs of WHO-approved manufacturers had less than 75 per cent active pharmaceutical ingredient, while 12.5 per cent (65/519) of ACTs of non-approved manufacturers were substandard with very little active pharmaceutical ingredient.
Aiming at ensure more effective utilisation of donor funds, the study concluded that donors should follow the practice of testing every batch of medicines sent out to foreign countries similar to the US President's Malaria Initiative. From India, drug samples were taken from Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. High disease burden and the increasing likelihood of drug resistance have made the findings medically significant for India.
In 2004 the World Health Organisation had banned artemisinin which is believed to be the most effective among the existing anti-malaria drugs in killing the protozoa, Plasmodium falciparum. Dr Mukesh Mehra, senior consultant at Max Superspeciality Hospital, Patparganj said, 'We use artemisinin as the second line of therapy as a large portion of malaria cases caused by the parasite, Plasmodium vivax, are resistant to chloroquine, which has been the first line drug. In fact, chloroquine resistant malaria is common in India so artemisinin-based therapies are often drugs of choice. We really have no option but to follow the WHO recommendations and approvals they grant to drugs blindly.'
A study published in The Lancet earlier this year said that artemisinin-resistant malaria found in Thailand is spreading towards India.
According to official data, there were 7,36,875 cases of malaria till November 2. While the ministry maintains that the malaria burden figure is in the range of 40,000-50,000, the Million Death Study puts the figure at 1.5-2 lakh deaths.
