Drug Resistance on Thai-Cambodian Border Could Undermine Malaria Efforts, WHO Says; Gates Foundation Grant Aims To Contain Drug Resistance

The emergence of drug-resistant malaria along the Thai-Cambodian border could "seriously undermine" efforts to control the disease and pose threats to neighboring countries, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, AFP/Google.com reports. WHO also announced that it has received a $22.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to curb the spread of drug-resistant malaria along the Thai-Cambodian border.

According to WHO, data from surveillance systems and recent studies have provided "new evidence" that some parasites in the region have developed resistance to artemisinin, an ingredient in artemisinin-based combination therapies. WHO reports that people in this region -- who walk several miles each day to clear forests -- could be at risk for developing drug-resistant malaria, which "could set back recent successes to control the disease" (AFP/Google.com, 2/25). Although efforts to reduce the global malaria burden have had some success over the past 10 years, the emergence of drug resistance threatens these gains, WHO said. Hiroki Nakatani, WHO assistant director-general, said "If we do not put a stop to the drug-resistant malaria situation that has been documented in the Thai-Cambodia border, it could spread rapidly to neighboring countries and threaten our efforts to control this deadly disease."

According to Xinhuanet, proper ACT use successfully treats malaria in 90% of cases (Xinhuanet, 2/25). Although WHO recommends ACTs as a first-line malaria treatment, the use of artemisinin as a single treatment might have contributed to the development of drug resistance, Reuters reports. According to Reuters, resistance to the older malaria treatment chloroquine emerged in the Thai-Cambodia border region several years ago, followed by resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and mefloquine (Hirschler, Reuters, 2/25).