Accra, April 28, GNA - The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) on Thursday said Chloroquine had not completely been phased out and could still be used to treat malaria alongside Artesunate-Amodiaquine.

Ms Naa-Korkor Allotey, Programme Officer of the NMCP, said after all the comments and suggestions made by stakeholders and the public after the withdrawal of 200mg and 600mg of Artesunate-Amodiaquine, chloroquine could still be used till the hurdles that erupted after the introduction of Artesunate-Amodiaquine as the first line treatment of malaria were cleared.

Speaking at the Ghana Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PHSG) symposium to mark Africa Malaria Day, which fell on April 25, Ms Allotey said the choice of only one drug as first-line treatment of malaria had caused a lot of problems. The Ghana Health Council had recommended that chloroquine should not be phased out.

She said with the emerging problems associated with the withdrawal, "there is no doubt that the adoption and implementation of the Anti-Malaria Drug Policy had a number hurdles to clear. However, the good of the patient has been our primary focus", she added. The NMCP together with the Ministry of Health; Food and Drugs Board and the Ghana Health Service some few months ago withdrew the 200mg and 600mg of Artesuante-Amodiaquine based on complaints about the adverse effect it had on patients.

She said NMCP was doing all it could to correct the problem and to ensure that health care providers, pharmacists and patients adhered to all the requirements.

Ms Augustina Appiah-Danquah of the National Centre for Pharmacovigilance (NCPv), University of Ghana, said 55 patients had reported adverse effects to the new anti-malaria drug. She said most of the complaints were severe heartburns; severe itching; red eyes; sleepless nights; neck pain; shortness of breath and muscle spasms of upper and lower limbs.

She noted that the six complaints received this year were related to the high dose formulation of the withdrawn brands indicating that there were some brands of the drugs on the market.

Ms Appiah-Danquah advised that pharmacists should collaborate with the NCPv to help in the rapid identification of drug safety signals and studies should be carried out to find out what went wrong.