Table 1 Frequency of genuine and fake artesunate at 180 pharmacies/shops selling medicines sample at random in Laos.

Northern Provinces

Phongsaly

Phongsaly

8/3

7/3

0/0

-

1.5 (1,660)

Phongsaly

May

2/3

2/3

0/0

-

Udomxay

Xay

24/2

7/2

1/0

1 (100)

12 (4,389)

Udomxay

Namor

5/2

5/2

0/0

-

Xayabury

Paklai

24/3

7/3

1/0^a

0 (0)

1.4 (21,486)

Xayabuly Khorb

7/2

7/2

0/0

-

Southern Provinces

Vientiane City

Sisattanak

76/0

7/0

0/-

-

0.2 (1,008)

Vientiane City

Maypaknum

15/0

7/0

0/-

-

Borikhamxay

Bolikanh

15/2

7/2

0/0

-

1.5 (274)

Borikhamxay

Khamkueth

24/0

7/0

0/-

-

Sekong

Thateng

6/0

6/0

2/-

2 (100)

17.5 (7,149)

Sekong

Dakcheung

4/0

4/0

3/-

3 (100)

Total

210+17 = 227

73+17 = 90

7/0

6 (86)

5.9 (35,966)

Second collection – randomly selected pharmacies in all 6 Lao cities (excluding Vientiane) of > 20,000 people

City

No. pharmacies recorded

No. pharmacies sampled

Pharmacies from which artesunate bought

No (%) selling counterfeit artesunate

% slides positive for P. falciparum malaria/province in 2003 (number of slides checked)

Northern Provinces

Luangphrabang

51

15

0

-

4.6 (16,455)

Xiengkhuang

47

15

1^a

0 (0)

0.4 (6,856)

Southern Provinces

Thakhek

68

15

0/

-

2.5 (37,980)

Savannakhet

56

15

6

6 (100)^b

11.8 (60,238)

Saravane

23

15

4^c

3 (75)

11.8 (29,017)

Pakse

59

15

7^d

7 (100)

6.4 (40,523)

Total

304

90

18

16 (89)

7.8 (191,069)

Overall Total

514+17 = 531

163+17 = 180

25

22 (88)

7.5 (227,035)