Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Raymond Panas

Abstract

Malaria is still an epidemic in many parts of the world-about 220 million people are still infected with malaria worldwide and about 700 thousand people die from this disease per year. Most of the drugs used to treat malaria work well if they are used as required and they contain the right amounts of the active ingredient; however, it is estimated that more than 10% of drugs traded worldwide are counterfeits including 38% to 53% of antimalarial tablets produced in China and India. Due to the lack of data covering the extent of counterfeit antimalarial drugs in Ghana, the purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the percentage of counterfeit antimalarial drugs sold in Ghana by assessing the amounts of the 2 most common antimalarial drugs, artemether (ATMT) and lumefantrine (LMFT) in drugs sold in Ghana retail outlets. These drugs were purchased from retail outlets in Ghana and analyses at the Mayo Clinic Pharmacology core lab (Rochester, MN). The quality of the drugs were characterized by comparing the actual amount of ATMT & LMFT in each tablet to the expected amount. Using explanatory theory along with dose response-response occupancy theory, the researcher addressed quantitative solutions to questions related to the percentage and distribution of counterfeit ATMT and LMFT tablets. The results revealed that overall 20% of the drugs are counterfeit; this is not dependent on the location or kind of outlet but rather depends on whether the tablets were imported or locally manufactured and whether the tablets had a pedigree scratch panel. This study provides a better understanding of how much antimalarial medication is counterfeit in Ghana, which will aid interventions to minimize the adverse effects of counterfeit antimalarial medication in Ghana

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