Brazil launches new affordable malaria treatment
07/07/2008
Brazil has become the latest country to roll out a new two-in-one pill for those at risk of contracting malaria.
State-run drugmaker Farmanguinhos is working with the Geneva-based Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) to deliver the medicine at a target price of $2.50 (£1.27).
Medical experts hope that the fixed-dose combination, known as ASMQ, will soon be available to every child and adult who is currently at risk in Latin American and south-east Asia.
India's Cipla Ltd is supplying the Asian market, and with no patent issues to contend with the drug will be sold at cost-price, making it easier for governments to bring the lifesaving medicine to market.
Jean Rene Kiechel, the project's manager, told Reuters that the medicine is more effective than most existing therapies, and could be used on two to three million patients over the next three years.
ASMQ belongs to a new generation of artemisinin-based combination therapies, or ACT drugs. It combines artesunate with the anti-malarial drug mefloquine to produce what has described as one of the best defences from the disease.
Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that infects mosquitoes. It currently kills over one million people each year - with one in every five deaths among young African children being attributed to the disease.
In addition to drug-based treatments, the World Health Organisation also advocates preventative measures hinging on the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets to vulnerable people.
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