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Drug-Resistant Malaria Threatens Control Efforts
- Details
- Published on Friday, 20 July 2007 07:28
A special team headed by the co-ordinator of the National Malaria Control Unit, Dr Sam Ochola, yesterday sounded an alarm after the experts recorded high levels of the disease's resistance to sulfa pyrimethamine, the Ministry of Health's recommended drugs.
Dr Ochola said Kericho highlands were the worst hit with more than 7,000 patients being treated at various hospitals in the region.
By the end of last week, 4,039 patients had been treated at the Kisii District Hospital.
Dr Ochola said medical authorities had been instructed to combine drugs to contain the outbreak. "Individual drugs are proving a flop so we urge all medics to adopt combination therapy system of treatment."
He said drug resistance study centres at Chulaimbo and Bondo in Nyanza Province had been put on alert to speed up research on resistance to the drugs.
The findings are expected to help the government formulate new policies on malaria treatment.
He was speaking after presiding over a health seminar on Preparation of Roll Back Malaria Scaling up Plans of Action for Ministry of Health officials from in Nyanza Province.
