MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 13 December 2014]

Press release
Doctors Without Borders Distributes Antimalarial Drugs in Sierra Leone
December 10, 2014
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE—As part of its ongoing emergency response to Ebola in West Africa, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has begun its largest-ever distribution of antimalarials in Sierra Leone, alongside the Ministry of Health, the medical humanitarian organization announced Wednesday. Teams distributed 1.5 million antimalarial treatments to residents of Freetown and five districts in the surrounding Western area over four days, with the aim of protecting people from malaria during the disease’s peak season.
“In the context of Ebola, malaria is a major concern, because people who are sick with malaria have the same symptoms as people sick with Ebola,” said Patrick Robataille, MSF field coordinator in Freetown. “As a result, most people turn up at Ebola treatment centers thinking that they have Ebola, when actually they have malaria. It’s a huge load on the system, as well as being a huge stress on patients and their families.”
Sierra Leone has the fifth highest prevalence of malaria globally, and the disease is the biggest killer of children under five in the country. Malaria symptoms include high fever, dizziness, headaches, muscle aches and fatigue, many of which are similar to the symptoms of early-stage Ebola.
The antimalarial drug artesunate amodiaquine can be used both to prevent and to treat malaria. Its widescale use is recommended in the context of an Ebola outbreak by the World Health Organization (WHO).
At 1.5 million treatments, this is the largest-ever distribution of antimalarials in an Ebola outbreak, as well as the largest ever conducted in Sierra Leone.
“The size of this campaign is in proportion to the scale of the Ebola epidemic –it’s massive,”said Robataille….