KENYA STRUGGLES TO PROVIDE NEW MALARIA DRUGS

The Kenyan government's decision last year to order a switch from sulfur-based drugs to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) to treat malaria has caused a stir among the healthcare community, reports the Nairobi, Kenya-based East African Standard.

Experts say new ACT products are more effective in treating malaria, according to the newspaper, but they are also more expensive. Sulfur-based drugs include Roche's Fansidar, while the newer ACT products include Novartis' Coartem.

When first introduced, ACT products cost roughly 40 times as much as the older malaria drugs, according to the article in the East African Standard. Even when supplied by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the newer drugs still cost nearly 12 times as much as sulfur-based drugs.

In response, Kenya's government decided to allow local drugmakers to produce cheaper generic versions of ACTs, but it is difficult and expensive for those companies to procure artemisinin, which is derived from a Chinese plant, according to the article. The government is reportedly exploring options to grow the plant locally, but the seeds are also expensive.