Coartem Might Not Be Best Option for Malaria Treatment, Kenyan Pharmaceutical Society Says

The artemisinin-based combination therapy Coartem, which is manufactured by Swiss drug maker Novartis, might not be the best first-line malaria treatment in Kenya because many residents living with the disease cannot afford the medication, the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya has said, Kenya's Daily Nation reports. Coartem costs between about $6.50 and $9.00 per dose. Although treatment often is subsidized by international donors, problems with access to the drug could arise if subsidies are terminated, PSK Chair Kibwage Ongubo said. "What will happen when the donor funds dry up when we have introduced to our populations such expensive and high-end treatment?" he asked. Other health care officials in Kenya have said that the country's Ministry of Health should not recommend only one drug manufactured by one company. Instead, the agency should provide policy guidelines so health professionals can choose from various treatment options, according to the officials. Kenyan Health Minister Charity Ngilu last year announced that the country was adopting Coartem as its first-line malaria treatment, in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines. However, a study published in the December 2004 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia says that it is unclear why WHO began recommending Coartem as the first-line treatment in malaria-endemic countries. Timothy Davis of the University of Western Australia and colleagues write that WHO should have considered other more effective and less-expensive malaria treatments, including artemisinin monotherapy, for which generic versions already are registered (Bett, Daily Nation, 7/8).