Keeping It Real: Fake Malaria Drugs in Southeast Asia

Between 2000 and 2010, malaria cases declined by 25%, and deaths caused by malaria declined by an even greater 57%. Despite these tremendous accomplishments, Southeast Asian nations still face many challenges brought on by malaria. Perhaps the most pressing of these issues is the growing trend of counterfeit anti-malaria drugs emerging in Southeast Asia.

Can you tell the difference between the real and fake pills?

According to a recent study, over 1,400 anti malaria drug samples were analyzed from seven countries in Southeast Asia between 1999 and 2010. The results show about 35% of these anti malaria drugs were counterfeit, low quality, or incorrectly packaged. This poses many challenges to anti-malaria campaigns in Southeast Asia. First, most affected people live in poor, remote rural regions where local officials do not have the training to distinguish real and counterfeit drugs. Second, many of the counterfeit pills contain trace amounts of genuine artemisinin, an anti-malaria drug, in order to fool drug tests. This would cause the malaria parasite to develop resistance to many forms of malaria treatment while not adequately treating the disease.

According to a WHO report, in Cambodia, up to 70% malaria patients seek treatment from private vendors. Most of these patients live in poor rural areas where the only access to malaria drugs are from unlicensed and untrained vendors, who cannot distinguish between real and counterfeit malaria pills. These vendors are supplied by traveling merchants who offer unbeatable bargains. A Cambodian government research project found that over 27% of malaria drugs purchased from rural pharmacies were counterfeit.