Use of drugs for malaria control in tropical Africa

At present, in countries of tropical Africa, chemotherapy is the main and often the only operationally, administratively, and financially feasible method of malaria control. This applies particularly in rural areas. This article reviews experience with chemotherapy in Africa since the late 1940s with mepacrine, proguanil, pyrimethamine, chloroquine, amodiaquine, and sulfones and sulfonamides in combination with dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors. Chloroquine has proved to be the most effective compound and it is the drug of choice as long as malarial parasites remain susceptible to it. Because of reports from East Africa of strains of Plasmodium falciparum resistant to 4-aminoquinolines, it is essential that national and regional policies be developed for the rational use of antimalarials.In most of the countries, the scope of activities is still limited to the administration of antimalarial drugs to sick persons through a limited network of health institutions. In some countries, however, attempts have been made to extend the coverage of drug administration by involving voluntary collaborators or through the provision of suppressive treatment to vulnerable groups of the population (such as infants, young children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and schoolchildren) but the efficacy of such methods depends on the degree of involvement of voluntary collaborators, primary health workers, and communities.