New ACT Reduces Number of Malaria Cases on Comoros’ Moheli Island, Researchers Say
A new artemisinin-based combination therapy has significantly reduced the number of malaria cases on the Comoros island of Moheli, Chinese researchers said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
In November 2007, researcher May Lee and colleagues from Guangzhou University of Traditional Medicine gave the four-tablet ACT treatment, called Artequick, to the 40,000 residents of Moheli, which is located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. Lee said that 60 days after the research commenced, about 1.4% of the population was carrying malaria parasites, compared with 23% the year before.
Bouchrati Abdoulhalim, Moheli's health minister, said there are currently no malaria cases at the hospital in the island's capital. Malaria was a "big problem before," Abdoulhalim said, adding that now, "people are suffering from other things, but not malaria." The World Health Organization has requested more data on Artequick. "We will try to see what are the long-term adverse effects of this drug," Yao Kassankogno, WHO's country representative, said, adding that the drug has not yet been "internationally scientifically proven." In addition, population movement could make it challenging to keep malaria transmission rates low in Moheli, WHO said (Harris, Reuters, 3/11).
