![[Uganda] The distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITN), both in the most populated and the more isolated regions of sub-Saharan Africa is proving to be a crucial step in the fight against malaria.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20061308.jpg.webp?itok=-QYb-zjy "The distribution of insecticide treated bed nets is effective in the battle against malaria")
Few people in Uganda use the most effective treatment for malaria, a deadly but entirely curable disease, because it is too expensive in private pharmacies and often out of stock in public health care facilities, according to a new report.
According to this study of the Ugandan market conducted by the country’s Ministry of Health and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), of the 174 anti-malaria drugs found to be available, only 15 percent were artemisinin combination therapies (ACT), which are recommended as first line treatment by the World Health Organization.
In rural Uganda when people fall ill, they tend first to visit the local pharmacy rather than a government health centre. But according to this report, only 9 percent of private sector outlets even stock ACT. Drugs such as chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, sometimes a hundredth of the price of ACT, were found to be widely available, but are much less effective because the parasites that cause malaria have grown resistant to them.
In an effort to make ACT more available in Uganda, the government has launched a pilot subsidisation project.
A summary of the MMV/Ministry of Health report’s findings can be found here.
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