Quality of chloroquine tablets available in Africa

Abstract

Malaria is the biggest killer of African children, yet it is cheaply preventable and curable with insecticides spraying, impregnated bednets and effective drugs. This study aimed to evaluate the quality ofChloroquine (CQ) tablets available in selected African countries. Twenty-six samples of antimalarial CQ tablet of 100, 150 and 250 mg were collected from12 African countries and evaluated for their quality in the Drugs Quality Control Laboratory of Rabat, Morocco. The identification and dosage of active pharmaceutical ingredients in the tablets, dissolution rate, hardness and the friability of CQtabletswere performed according to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and European Pharmacopoeia (Eur.Ph.) recommended methods. The results showed that 7.7% of the sampled CQ tablets available in Burkina Faso were of low quality. Failure in dissolution profile was found in50%ofCQtablets sampled fromBenin,BurkinaFaso,ComorosUnion, Mali and Senegal.The findings showed poor quality ofCQtablets available in the Africanmarket. This problemmay affect the efforts to control malaria in Africa. Efficient regulatory systems of drugs quality control should be implemented. © W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2011.