ArticleBMC pharmacology & toxicology2015
Anti-malarial prescribing practices in Sudan eight years after introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapies and implications for development of drug resistance.
Article in BMC pharmacology & toxicology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antimicrobial prescription patterns in East Africa: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Population-Based Prevalence of Antibiotic Residuals in Low, Moderate and High Malaria Endemicity Areas in Tanzania.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Health workers' adherence to malaria case management protocols in Northern Sudan: a qualitative study.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Economic Burdens of Uncomplicated Malaria in Primary Health Care (PHC) Facilities of Plateau State, Nigeria: Patients' Perspectives.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Glycosylated gold nanoparticles in point of care diagnostics: from aggregation to lateral flow.Chemical Society reviews · 2022Review
- A snapshot of Plasmodium falciparum malaria drug resistance markers in Sudan: a pilot study.BMC research notes · 2020Article
- Dispensing practices for anti-malarials in the La Nkwantanang-Madina municipality, Greater Accra, Ghana: a cross-sectional study.Malaria journal · 2019Article
- Bibliometric Analysis of Worldwide Publications on Antimalarial Drug Resistance (2006-2015).Malaria research and treatment · 2017Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) recommends artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) as first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria. Sudan revised its malaria treatment policy accordingly in 2004. However, eight years after ACTs were introduced in Sudan the patterns of ACT prescribing practices among health care providers remain unclear. We systematically analyzed use of ACTs in a large number of primary health facilities and we discuss the public health implications of our findings.
methodsThis cross-sectional study was based on WHO's guidance for investigating drug use in health facilities. Data were collected from 40 randomly selected primary health centers in five localities in Gezira State, Sudan. The primary outcome of the study was the proportion of patients who were adequately managed according to Sudan's recommended malaria treatment guidelines. Twelve drug-use indicators were used to assess key ACT prescribing practices.
resultsOne thousand and two hundred patients diagnosed with uncomplicated malaria were recruited into the study. ACT was prescribed for 88.6%patients and artemether injections were (incorrectly) prescribed in 9.5% of cases. Only 40.9% of patients in the study were correctly diagnosed and 26.9% were adequately managed according to the nationally recommended treatment guidelines. Incorrect prescribing activities included failure to use generic medicine names (88.2%), incorrect dosage (27.7%), and unexplained antibiotic co-prescription (24.2%). Dispensing practices were also poor, with labeling practices inadequate (97.1%) and insufficient information given to patients about their prescribed treatment (50.5%).
conclusionIrrational malaria treatment practices are common in Sudan. This has important public health implications since failure to adhere to nationally recommended guidelines could play a role in the future development of drug resistance. As such, identifying ways to improve the anti-malarial prescribing practices of heath workers in Sudan may be a priority.
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