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. 2009 May;80(5):737-8.

Malaria drug shortages in Kenya: a major failure to provide access to effective treatment

Beth B Kangwana  1 , Julius Njogu, Beatrice Wasunna, Sarah V Kedenge, Dorothy N Memusi, Catherine A Goodman, Dejan Zurovac, Robert W Snow
Affiliations

Malaria drug shortages in Kenya: a major failure to provide access to effective treatment

Beth B Kangwana et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2009 May.

Abstract

A key bench mark of successful therapeutic policy implementation, and thus effectiveness, is that the recommended drugs are available at the point of care. Two years after artemether-lumefathrine (AL) was introduced for the management of uncomplicated malaria in Kenya, we carried out a cross-sectional survey to investigate AL availability in government facilities in seven malaria-endemic districts. One of four of the surveyed facilities had none of the four AL weight-specific treatment packs in stock; three of four facilities were out of stock of at least one weight-specific AL pack, leading health workers to prescribe a range of inappropriate alternatives. The shortage was in large part caused by a delayed procurement process. National ministries of health and the international community must address the current shortcomings facing antimalarial drug supply to the public sector.

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