(November 2, 2009; Nairobi) ACTwatch, a research project led by PSI, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, released evidence today that indicates that artemisinin combination therapy, the most effective medicines for treating malaria, continue to have a significantly low presence on the market among populations considered to be most at risk.

Announcing the results at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Malaria Conference in Nairobi, Dr. Kathryn O’Connell presented on the current state of the antimalarial market across 6 sub-Saharan African countries and Cambodia. Data on availability, pricing and volumes for 23,000 antimalarials, sourced from 20,000 outlets, revealed a diverse market structure across countries. The majority of malaria endemic countries changed malaria treatment policies more than three years ago in the face of widespread drug resistance to monotherapies, adopting extremely effective artemisinin combination therapy; however, years later, the availability of these more effective medicines has been shown to be as low as 20% in public sector health facilities. Even in the private sector, where the majority of patients seek treatment, availability is still relatively low compared to cheaper, but less effective, drugs.

“These data confirm that access to ACTs is restricted by their high price. A full course of an adult treatment of ACT can be up to 65 times the minimum daily wage. This provides an overpowering incentive for a consumer to make the wrong antimalarial choice,” says Dr. Desmond Chavasse, Vice President of Malaria Control and Child Survival at PSI.

Worryingly, in most countries, ACTs currently make up only 5