Revista de Farmácia Aplicada
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PHARAMCOECONOMIC OF ANTIMALARIAL DRUGS AVAILABLE IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Humera Khatoon, Hina Qamar, Wardha Jawaid, Urooj Bukhari and Yumna Javed

Background: Malaria remains one of the communicable diseases threatening the human race especially young children and pregnant women. Falciparum malaria is becoming resistant to existing conventional treatments which are widely available and at a price that most people can afford. Whereas the newer treatments, such as artimisinin derivatives used in combination with older drugs are often far too expensive to be used. Aim: To indicate that the most successful anti-malarial treatment i.e. artemisinin continue to have a significantly high price when compared with other conventional anti-malarial therapies. Method: Survey with questionnaire (sample size n=200) was scrutinized and interviews were conducted with doctors from different localities, different medical stores and pharmacies on the subject of the most selling drugs(with or without prescription),cost effectiveness of selling drugs and secondary complication of malaria. Result:The data showed that Artemisinin combination therapies can be over twenty times more expensive than ineffective therapies such as Amodiaquine or chloroquine, ; for example, some artemisinin combination therapies cost as much as Rs.400.00 (3.89 USD), while ineffective antimalarials typically cost Rs.12.00 (012 USD) and 20.00 (0.19 USD) respectively. Conclusion: It is concluded that demand and utilisation of artemisinin combination therapy is restricted by their high price.