Improving malaria home treatment by training drug retailers in rural Kenya

Marsh, V. M., Mutemi, W. M., Willetts, A., Bayah, K., Were, S., Ross, A. and Marsh, Kevin (2004) 'Improving malaria home treatment by training drug retailers in rural Kenya'. Tropical Medicine & International Health, Vol 9, Issue 4, pp. 451-460.

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Abstract

Recent global malaria control initiatives highlight the potential role of drug retailers to improve access to early effective malaria treatment. We report on the findings and discuss the implications of an educational programme for rural drug retailers and communities in Kenya between 1998 and 2001 in a study population of 70000. Impact was evaluated through annual household surveys of over-the-counter (OTC) drug use and simulated retail client surveys in an early (1999) and a late (2000) implementation area. The programme achieved major improvements in drug selling practices. The proportion of OTC anti-malarial drug users receiving an adequate dose rose from 8% (n=98) to 33% (n=121) between 1998 and 1999 in the early implementation area. By 2001, and with the introduction of sulphadoxine pyrimethamine group drugs in accordance with national policy, this proportion rose to 64% (n=441) across the early and late implementation areas. Overall, the proportion of shop-treated childhood fevers receiving an adequate dose of a recommended anti-malarial drug within 24 h rose from 1% (n=681) to 28% (n=919) by 2001. These findings strongly support the inclusion of private drug retailers in control strategies aiming to improve prompt effective treatment of malaria.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	malaria malaria home care over-the-counter drugs drug retailers shopkeepers training developing-countries antimalarial-drugs childhood malaria children morbidity mortality coast care impact africa
Subjects:	WB Practice of Medicine > Therapeutics > WB 330 Drug therapy WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria
Faculty: Department:	Groups (2002 - 2012) > Clinical Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2004.01223.x
Depositing User:	Martin Chapman
Date Deposited:	25 Dec 2012 19:23
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:03
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2251

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