Support campaign on cheaper malaria drugs

The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation is in the process of popularising the highly subsidised malaria drugs now available in the country.

Through the programme, the ministry and the private sector are offering treatments for less than Sh40, effectively bringing down the cost of malaria medicine from a high average of Sh500 per dose.

Although these medicines have been around for several months now, many pharmacies have been selling them at prices far above those that have been recommended.

This has prompted the current campaign to inform Kenyans that the medicines are available and that they need not buy them at the previous high prices.

But only a few commercial pharmacies have heeded the ministry’s request to display the fliers on the new recommended prices.

Instead, most are selling the subsidised medicines at higher prices or are promoting other brands with higher profit margins.

For this noble project to succeed and in order to bring down deaths and the suffering caused by malaria, the private sector must be more charitable towards the good of the community.

Also, while the programme could be facing teething problems, it is important to ensure that the cheaper medicines are available in rural outlets, especially in malaria-endemic areas.

And the government must operationalise its policy of treating malaria only after a proper diagnosis to avoid misuse due to the easy access to the medicines.

This would serve to avoid wastage and stop the development of resistant parasites.

A cheaper and more effective way of sensitising Kenyans about the cheaper malaria drugs is by word of mouth and through mobile phones.

This would effectively diffuse the message even to remote areas and help fight malaria.