HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Vestergaard, L. S. Articles by Ringwald, P. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Vestergaard, L. S. Articles by Ringwald, P.

Responding to the Challenge of Antimalarial Drug Resistance by Routine Monitoring to Update National Malaria Treatment Policies

Reduced sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to formerly recommended cheap and well-known antimalarial drugs places an increasing burden on malaria control programs and national health systems in endemic countries. The high costs of the new artemisinin-based combination treatments underline the use of rational and updated malaria treatment policies, but defining and updating such policies requires a sufficient volume of high-quality drug-resistance data collected at national and regional levels. Three main tools are used for drug resistance monitoring, including therapeutic efficacy tests, in vitro tests, and analyses of molecular markers. Data obtained with the therapeutic efficacy test conducted according to the standard protocol of the World Health Organization are most useful for updating national treatment policies, while the in vitro test and molecular markers can provide important additional information about changing patterns of resistance. However, some of the tests are technically demanding, and thus there is a need for more resources for training and capacity building in endemic countries to be able to adequately respond to the challenge of drug resistance.

Received August 21, 2006. Accepted for publication January 5, 2007.

^* Address correspondence to P. Ringwald, Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. E-mail: ringwaldp{at}who.int

Authors’ addresses: Lasse S. Vestergaard, Department of Epidemiology, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark, Telephone: +45-32-683695, Fax: +45-32-683874, E-mail: lav{at}ssi.dk. Pascal Ringwald, Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, Telephone: +41-22-7913469, Fax: +41-22-7914824, E-mail: ringwaldp{at}who.int.

Reprint requests: P. Ringwald, Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzer-land, Telephone: +41-22-7913469, Fax: +41-22-7914824, E-mail: ringwaldp{at}who.int.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. G. Breman and C. N. Holloway Malaria Surveillance Counts Am J Trop Med Hyg, December 1, 2007; 77(6_Suppl): 36 - 47. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. G. Breman, M. S. Alilio, and N. J. White Defining and Defeating the Intolerable Burden of Malaria III. Progress and Perspectives Am J Trop Med Hyg, December 1, 2007; 77(6_Suppl): vi - xi. [Full Text] [PDF]