Drug-Resistant Malaria - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

IX.
Summary
The Meeting on Drug-Resistant Malaria held in Kuala Lumpur on
10-15 August 1981, has promoted the exchange of experience between
programme directors and field researc'h workers confronted with the
problem of drug-resistant faciparum malaria in countries of the
South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions, and has strengthened
their contact with the Scientific Working Groups on the Chemotherapy
of Malaria and Applied Field Research in Malaria. This
cohesion is required in order to accelerate and intensify research
aimed at practical solutions to the problems of drug resistance.
Chloroquine resistance of Plasmodium falciparum involves by
now all malarious countries of the Western Pacific Region, and has
shown futher westward and southward spread in the South-East Asia
Region, besides an increase of frequency and degree of resistance
in the extensive, earlier affected areas. The advent of resistance
to second-line antimalarial drugs, such as long-acting sulfonamides
combined with pyrimethamine in several countries of both
Regions, and of South America, is a cause for special concern,
especially where combined with other technical problems favouring
malaria transmission, such as insecticide resistance of vectors
and their evasive behaviour as well as population movement.
Besides financial, administrative and technical constraints,
which limit the application and effectiveness of major malaria
control efforts in many of the affected areas, the very limited
range of operationally applicable antimalarial drugs poses the
most serious obstacle to the elimination of foci and the reduction
of the problem in its epicentres.
The meeting reviewed the monitoring of drug sensitivity, the
dosages and schedules of drugs for the treatment and suppression