PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Inexpensive legitimate distribution of a leading malaria-fighting drug has begun in Asia to combat ineffective counterfeit medications, officials say.
A strain of malaria on the Thailand-Cambodian border has become resistant to the drug artemisinin, the current treatment of the disease, Time magazine reported.
The drug is derived from sweet wormwood, a naturally growing herb in Southeast Asia.Artemisinin has been the preferred treatment for more than 30 years. Now malaria's deadliest strain, Plasmodium falciparum, is resistant because the parasite has had time to adapt, so artemisinin is being given in combination with another drug, Time says.
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