Ethnomedicine in malaria treatment

The most pressing problem in malaria is parasite resistance to classical antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine, particularly as no alternative antimalarial agents are currently available that combine the low cost, safety and efficacy that once characterized chloroquine. Indeed, people in these endemic countries must survive on less than US dollars 15 per month, and consequently a maximum cost of US dollars 1 per person is all that can be afforded for antimalarial treatment. Only chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine are widely available at this price but resistance to these drugs is widespread, hence the development of cheap alternative therapies are essential. For these endemic populations, traditional medicine appear indispensable in the fight against this disease. Moreover, with regard to the scientific community, natural products demonstrate the highest chemical structural diversity.