The National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) of the Federal Ministry of Health says artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) have been recommended for malaria treatments in Nigeria.
NMEP Program Officer, Wudi Tanko, disclosed this in her presentation at a press conference on Friday in Abuja.
The presentation was titled: “Effective management of malaria cases, appropriate use of anti-malarial drugs.”
It listed artemether-lumefantrine (AL), artesunate-amodiaquine (AA), dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHP) and artesunate-pyronaridine (PA), as drugs of choice for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria.
Mrs Tanko explained that the drugs come in different dosage combinations with the aim of quickly curing the disease and preventing its progression.
“ACTs are the recommended treatments for uncomplicated malaria globally.
“If the patient does not respond after two or three days, review the diagnosis, dosage and investigate further for other diseases.”
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Citing the advantages of why TCAs were recommended, he argued that two or more of the drugs attacked the parasite from different sites, with a delay in the development of resistance.
He further stated that combination therapies could improve and maintain efficacy, as well as improve treatment outcomes by eliminating residual parasites, among others.
However, the NMEP program manager cautioned that the use of monotherapy was prohibited, defining monotherapy as the use of a single antimalarial drug to treat malaria.
He said most of these therapies consisted of injections of artesunate and artemether, chloroquine and sulfadoxine pyrimethamine (SP).
“Monotherapies are not recommended for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria and cannot cure malaria.”
According to her, chloroquine and SP are failed medications, while artesunate and artemether injections only last between 30 minutes and one or two hours in the body.
He observed that both drugs quickly attacked malaria parasites, but did not remain in the body to eliminate residual parasites.
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“The use of monotherapies for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria is an abuse,” he stated.
Ms Tanko listed the dangers of using monotherapy, including incomplete cure, increased disease severity and development of drug resistance.
Earlier, Godwin Ntadom, national coordinator of the NMEP, spoke about the importance of effective environmental sanitation to eliminate malaria.
Mr Ntadom clarified the gray areas related to the diagnosis and treatment of malaria, while corroborating Mr Tanko's submission that malaria cannot be diagnosed based on the evaluation of signs and symptoms carried out.
“Diagnosis requires confirmation of a clinical suspicion,” he said.
He added that all suspected malaria cases should be examined.
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The deputy director of Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation of the NMEP, Tolulope Fagbemi, emphasized keeping the environment clean and clearing bushes that favored the development of the vector.
“Apart from that, a woman whose child starts to have a fever should have him tested and treated appropriately,” she said.
He said pregnant women should attend early prenatal care, adding that it was important to sleep under mosquito nets.