Kakaire Kirunda
24 September 2008
In a bid to strengthen malaria control in the country, the Ministry of Health is pushing for a couple of policy guidelines that should be operational before the end of the year.
Among the major changes expected is the reclassifying of the first line anti-malarial Coartem from a prescription to a non prescription drug.
"The National Drug Authority is in the last stages of approving it to reclassify the drug from a prescription to an easy to get over- the-counter medication," Dr George Mukone of the Malaria Control Programme said on Monday at a discussion with media managers in Kampala.
Dr Mukone said it is this constriction in the law that has rendered the over 30,000 community medicine distributors inactive as far as availing Coartem to communities is concerned.
The move to change the law comes at a time when the government is partnering with the private sector in eight districts under a pilot scheme to help the rural poor access the much needed anti-malarial drugs cheaply.
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