‘Most anti-malaria drugs have no information on safe use in women, children’

This was part of the outcome of her more recent postdoctoral research findings on ‘Therapeutic and Therapeutic Smuggling’ in 2011 made public when she spoke at the university’s inaugural lecture on ‘Recalling Therapeutic Exiles: Who Speaks for Women and Children?’In a statement signed by Dr Ismaila Shehu, the Director, Public Affairs Directorate, of the Ahmadu […]

This was part of the outcome of her more recent postdoctoral research findings on ‘Therapeutic and Therapeutic Smuggling’ in 2011 made public when she spoke at the university’s inaugural lecture on ‘Recalling Therapeutic Exiles: Who Speaks for Women and Children?’
In a statement signed by Dr Ismaila Shehu, the Director, Public Affairs Directorate, of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kwanashie revealed that non-availability of information in women in this regard, causes the following magnitude: pregnancy (91.93%) and lactation (88.54%).
According to her  not enough adequate prescribing information for use in children was available for 80% of the antimalarials studied.
She, however, said even when information was available, the antimalarials might still not be used in lactation (11.46%), pregnancy (7.42%) and children (0.56%) as a result of cautions due to lack of data, rather than damaging data.
“Thus, the gross inadequacy of information available for rational prescribing and dispensing of antimalarials in women and children remains unchanged,” she said.
In biomedical literature, according to the biochemistry scientist, there was sufficient evidence for the dearth from the premises of both drugs and diseases.
Analysis of the available information for over 500 commonly used drugs she carried out in 1990s, for example, had shown that for half to two thirds, there was little or no information regarding their use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Professor Kwanashie further said treatment of malaria with old and new drugs against sensitive and multi-drug resistant forms of the causative plasmodia parasite also portrayed the limited availability of safe and effective medicines for the highly vulnerable populations of women and children.