Lack of awareness of problems with treatments threatens malaria control efforts

Despite the widespread availability of effective new drugs and diagnostic tools, malaria still poses a risk to half the world’s population, and each year about a million people die of the disease, heard a seminar held at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to mark world malaria day on 25 April.

The United Nations has called for universal provision of insecticide treated bed nets and prompt treatment for all people at risk of malaria by the end of this year, to achieve the goal of near zero deaths by 2015.

Yet major problems remain. Issues such as misdiagnosis and overprescription of treatments, counterfeit drugs, problems in supply and delivery, and emerging resistance to drugs “all hamper effective treatment.” A lack of awareness among …