Rectal Artesunate holds 25 per cent survival benefit

Accra, Jan 12, GNA - Findings from a trial study by a research team from Ghana, Tanzania and Bangladesh has indicated the effectiveness of the use of Rectal Artesunate as an emergency treatment for severe malaria in children to reduce mortality.

The research said early treatment with Rectal Artesunate has conferred a 25 per cent survival benefit for all children with severe malaria and prevented serious neurological complications that would have been consequential to cerebral malaria.

It said the benefit of early treatment with the drug was, therefore, greater for patients who could not access the hospital quickly.

Prof. John Gyapong, Director of Research, Ghana Health Service (GHS), at a dissemination workshop on Friday, explained that the World Health Organisation (WHO) sponsored study was to access the survival benefit of the drug in the management of severe malaria in deprived communities.

"This intervention was found to be necessary in communities with little access to health facilities and where malaria is the major cause of death in children," he said.

He said a total of about 8,000 children between the ages of six months and 72 months with severe malaria, were randomized to receive 100 milligram of either Rectal Artesunate and a placebo (un-medicated preparation), as an emergency treatment before referring them for complete treatment in the nearest health facility.

The trial study, which was carried out in Tanzania, Bangladesh and Ghana spanned between 2000 and 2006, with the Navrongo Health Research Centre being the sample site for Ghana.

He said the study was carried out in the Kassena Nankana District, where facilities were already available to harmonize and facilitate coordination and monitoring for best results. Prof. Gyapong, however, stressed that the use of Rectal Artesunate was not being proposed as a definite treatment for malaria, but as an intervention with the chance of saving the lives of about 75 per cent of children that develop malaria.

He said the WHO in conjunction with other researchers in Ghana and Tanzania have begun exploring mechanisms for deploying Rectal Artesunate in rural communities and to incorporate them into national treatment guidelines.

Dr David Amofa, Director of Public Health, said while the use of the drug might be important in reducing child mortality, other care issues such as its efficacy, cost effective interventions, financing schemes available as well as safety issues shold be considered. "We must access the disease burden and the purpose of such an intervention as well as the efficacy of the intervention to establish enough evidence that Rectal Artesunate is the best option for emergency treatment of malaria," he said.

He also said there must be availability and accessibility of the drugs in these communities to ensure better results. Dr Amofa said additional studies were ongoing at Dodowa and the findings would soon be made available. 12 Jan. 2007