Leading drug manufacturer Novartis has announced that it will cut the prices of Coartem by 20 percent. Coartem is used to treat malaria.
The new price of 37 cents (0.23 euros) for children's doses will start from Friday which is World Malaria Day, said the company.Novartis provides Coartem to the public sector on a non-profit basis. It has supplied over 160 million treatments since 2001 to malaria-endemic countries.
Children and adolescents account for nearly three-quarters of patients taking Coartem, said Novartis.
Malaria affects more than a billion people worldwide and kills a million -- mainly under the age of five -- every year, the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source-AFP
RAS/L
