Improper Diagnosis, Self-Medication Hindering Congo’s Efforts To Fight Malaria, IRIN News Reports
Improper diagnosis and self-medication is leading to an increase in malaria deaths among low-income people in Congo, hindering the country's efforts to fight the disease, IRIN News reports.
According to IRIN News, although some malaria strains are resistant to the older malaria drug chloroquine, many people in the country continue to use the drug instead of artemisinin-based combination therapies, which have been the recommended treatment since 2006. In addition, although the sale of nonprescription malaria drugs is illegal, about 60% of people in the capital of Brazzaville purchase malaria drugs from street vendors. According to IRIN News, drugs purchased from street vendors and other nonqualified practitioners often are ineffective or counterfeit. The national malaria program is educating people about the dangers of purchasing drugs from street vendors, IRIN News reports.
The Congolese government in 2007 began providing no-cost ACTs to pregnant women and children younger than age five, with the goal of reducing malaria deaths by 60%. According to IRIN News, up to 21,000 children younger than age five in the country die from malaria annually (IRIN News, 1/14).
