WHO fears malaria drug shortages
(CNN) -- A sharp increase in the demand for a potent anti-malaria drug has raised concerns of a supply shortage, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The WHO's Web site on Monday said the drug, artemether-lumefantrine -- an artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) that's most effective against falciparum malaria -- would suffer shortages until March 2005.
Since 2001, WHO has been urging countries where malaria is resistant to standard drugs such as chloroquine to change over to ACTs, due to the increased resistance by the malaria parasite against conventional treatments.
Forty countries, half of them in Africa, have taken this advice since 2001.
"Orders for artemether-lumefantrine have increased rapidly since 2001, when WHO requested 220,000 treatment courses for the public sector. In 2004, demand of 10 million treatment courses was forecast. For 2005, WHO projects demand for 60 million treatment courses," WHO's Web site reported.
Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Novartis, which makes an ACT treatment at cost price for the WHO, has said the shortage of a key ingredient from Chinese suppliers is also stifling production.
WHO is recommending countries that are facing shortages use second-line treatments such as quinine, which is still effective against falciparum malaria, despite the fact treatment takes longer.
According to the Web site Malaria Foundation International, malaria causes an estimated 2.7 million deaths per year, with 90 percent of these occurring in Africa.
The site also says malaria has made a comeback in African nations that had previously been in control of the epidemic, such as Madagascar, South Africa, and Zanzibar.
