The majority of African countries have ineffective drugs as part of their malaria treatment protocols, according to the third Pan-African Malaria Conference of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria.
The conference, held this week in Arusha, Tanzania, brought together global experts and scientists to discuss the rapid advances in malaria vaccine research.
Worldwide malaria is estimated to kill about 2,7-million people a year, with 75% of the deaths among African children under five years old.
After a two-day discussion there was general consensus that mortality rates will only decrease if most African countries adopt a combination therapy as opposed to the traditional drugs of choice — chloroquin and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine.
Scientists at the conference produced evidence of high levels of resistance to first-line treatment and recommended that health ministries urgently rethink malaria protocols.
”African countries need to use combination therapy containing artemisinin derivatives,” said Thomas Sukwa, medical regional officer for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Harare.
A big problem, however, is funding. Most African countries are unable to shoulder the entire burden of changing their national protocols.
Sukwa said the combination therapy drugs are far more costly than the traditional drugs and most countries that want to adopt more effective treatment against malaria have no access to funds.
”There is no reason apart from the financial one why these combination drugs should not be implemented,” said Sukwa.
But some donors have warned that timing is essential as health services need to be modified.
Jean-Marie Kindermans, coordinator of MÃ