E-drug: Re: Toxicity amodiaquine vs ARVs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear All,
Whereas Amodiaquine is used for treating malaria, ARVs are used in
HIV infection. The range of items to choose from when selecting
drugs for managing HIV infection for a developing setting is limited.
On the other hand, there are options which are better than
amodiaquine for treating malaria in a poor setting - especially for
use as first line or second line therapy.
Amodiaquine causes a lot of subjective side-effects to adults. This
explains why patients here rarely buy the item from the private
sector. So if my government adopted this drug as first line therapy,
whether alone or in combination with SP (sulfonamide/
pyrimethamine combinations), there will be a very big difference
between such a policy and what people will do.
We shall of course use amodiaquine when quinine, which is widely
underdosed, ceases to be of value. Again the way private clinics
administer quinine injections and infusions is the major source of
our worry (we are using quinine for severe malaria).
Notice that amodiaquine could be more toxic than documented,
especially if used routinely in adults. Opening up its use in
the face of other options isn't advisable. You know that detecting
and reporting adverse drug reactions in most poor countries is a
mystery. And if Activists want technical assistance to go alongside
the donor funds, there is no doubt, poor countries need the
specialized experts. But I also find it practical for the experts to go
with the aim of developing systems and empowering the locals to
become more technically competent than now.
Regards,
George Kibumba, MPS
Teaching Assistant, Clinical Pharmacy
Department Of Pharmacy, Makerere University
P.O.Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda
Mobile: 256 071 81 54 28
E-mail: kibumba@yahoo.com
--
To send a message to E-Drug, write to: e-drug@usa.healthnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@usa.healthnet.org
in the body of the message type: subscribe e-drug OR unsubscribe e-drug
To contact a person, send a message to: e-drug-help@usa.healthnet.org
Information and archives: http://www.healthnet.org/programs/edrug.html