Kenya’s Health Ministry Should Review Decision To Change Malaria Treatment Policy, Opinion Piece Says

The Kenyan Ministry of Health needs to reconsider its decision to change the country's first-line malaria treatment to a patented artemisinin-based combination therapy of artemether and lumefantrine, former Chair of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya Rogers Atebe writes in an Executives magazine opinion piece. The new ACT "does not provide an effective solution to the malaria treatment problem" because it has not been proven safe for use in pregnancy, Atebe writes, adding that pregnant women and children under age five are most vulnerable to the disease. The health ministry also needs to consider whether it would be possible to manufacture less expensive alternatives to imported ACT brands, according to Atebe. The new drug is "many times more expensive than the previous one," Atebe writes, adding that the "manufacturer has offered the product to the private sector at a higher price than to the public sector, creating a price gradient." In addition, the health ministry has drafted the new policy expecting that the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will finance it, but donor dependency might not be "a viable strategy in effectively addressing the malaria treatment problem," Atebe says. He concludes, "These funds would benefit more patients if less expensive and efficacious generic alternatives to the innovator products were considered" (Atebe, Executives, 3/1).