USP-WHO study finds a third of antimalarials sampled in three African nations to be substandard

The first results from a large-scale study of key antimalarial medicines in 10 sub-Saharan African countries reveal that a high percentage of these circulating on national markets are of substandard quality and thus may contribute to the growth of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent form of malaria. The findings, released yesterday by the Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) Program, a USAID-funded program implemented by the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), are for three countries surveyed in the study - Madagascar, Senegal and Uganda.

The results are part of the larger Quality of Antimalarials in Sub-Saharan Africa (QAMSA) study, a 10-country collaborative study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and PQM. Within Madagascar, Senegal and Uganda, the study sampled 491 antimalarials, performed basic testing on almost all, and submitted 197 samples to full-scale quality control testing. The focus was on artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) products, currently the WHO's recommended form of first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria, and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) products, often used for preventative treatment of malaria during pregnancy. The samples were collected from the public and regulated private sectors in these countries, as well as from informal markets, as many patients obtain their medicines from these sources.

Senegal situation the worst