Quality of Antimalarials at the Epicenter of Antimalarial Drug Resistance: Results from an Overt and Mystery Client Survey in Cambodia

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Trop Med Hyg
• Personal Author:
  Yeung, Shunmay ; Lawford, Harriet L. S. ; Tabernero, Patricia ; Nguon, Chea ; van Wyk, Albert ; Malik, Naiela ; DeSousa, Mikhael ; Rada, Ouk ; Boravann, Mam ; Dwivedi, Prabha ; Hostetler, Dana M. ; Swamidoss, Isabel ; Green, Michael D. ; Fernandez, Facundo M. ; Kaur, Harparkash
• Description:
  Widespread availability of monotherapies and falsified antimalarials is thought to have contributed to the historical development of multidrug-resistant malaria in Cambodia. This study aimed to document the quality of artemisinin-containing antimalarials (ACAs) and to compare two methods of collecting antimalarials from drug outlets: through open surveyors and mystery clients (MCs). Few oral artemisinin-based monotherapies and no suspected falsified medicines were found. All 291 samples contained the stated active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of which 69% were considered good quality by chemical analysis. Overall, medicine quality did not differ by collection method, although open surveyors were less likely to obtain oral artemisinin-based monotherapies than MCs. The results are an encouraging indication of the positive impact of the country's efforts to tackle falsified antimalarials and artemisinin-based monotherapies. However, poor-quality medicines remain an ongoing challenge that demands sustained political will and investment of human and financial resources.
• Subjects:
  Field Studies and Innovations
• Source:
  Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015; 92(Suppl 6):39-50.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  92
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:13ef96928f47be13db266e178c2884c7e6cb4349dcede3c7ed23f531fc0a9d96
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/31580/cdc_31580_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.21 MB ]