The Ministry of Health (MoH) has reviewed the first line anti-malarial drug policy to offer alternative anti-malarial drugs to patients apart from artesunate amodiaquine.
The review, which is to be launched by the Minister of Health soon, followed a huge public outcry against artesunate amodiaquine which had untoward side effects on some patients.
Mr Felix Yellu, outgoing Government Pharmacist of the Ministry of Health, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the ministry had come to the realisation that artesunate amodiaquine, even though a potent drug for malarial cure, was not good for every patient and had decided to include other malarial drugs as alternatives to amodiaquine.
He said the Ghana Health Service had completed all preparations to bring the drugs to the public domain immediately the minister launched them this year.
Mr Yellu said the review also took into consideration the shortage of artesunate amodiaquine for infants because in the first list, doctors had to rely on breaking the full artesunate into two before administering them in halves to infants.
He said in the review, these bottlenecks had been removed and the dosage for infants well taken care of to ensure that reactions associated with the drugs were minimised to the barest minimum.
He said every medicine had side effects because most of the drugs had acidic base and urged Ghanaians to avoid self medication when not feeling well.
He said the review had taken into consideration the fact that some people tolerated some drugs which could be unbearable for another group of patients.
He said in undertaking the review, the ministry was mindful of the cost of malarial drugs on the market and did not include those that were beyond the purchasing power of a majority of Ghanaians.
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