Africa: WHO urges halt to malaria-resistant drugs

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has strongly criticised 21 pharmaceutical companies for marketing and selling "single drug" malaria pills that have the potential to develop resistance against one of the most common and serious tropical diseases. "The use of single-drug artemisinin treatment - or monotherapy - hastens development of resistance by weakening but not killing the parasite," the WHO said Thursday. The problem has assumed such seriousness that WHO has decided to name names, providing a list of the pharmaceutical companies marketing and selling these malaria pills.