Treating malaria

Standby emergency treatment

Standby emergency treatment describes the use of antimalarial drugs carried for self administration when malaria is suspected and prompt medical attention is not available. It is usually recommended if a traveller is going to stay for an extended period of time in an area with no medical care. It is only an option in clearly defined situations when being given with clear oral and written guidelines.

See Travellers section for further information

A key factor contributing to the increasing malaria mortality rate is the widespread resistance of P. falciparum to conventional antimalarial drugs, such as chloroquine, sulphadoxine + pyrimethamine (SP) and amodiaquine. Multi-drug resistant P. falciparum malaria is widely prevalent in Southeast Asia and some Amazonian regions of South America. Now Africa, the continent with the highest burden of malaria is increasingly developing resistance to monotherapies such as chloroquine and SP. It is now recommended that to counter the threat of resistance of P. falciparum to monotherapies, and to improve treatment outcome, combinations of antimalarials should be used for the treatment of falciparum malaria (WHO Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria 2006).