Artemisinin-naphthoquine combination (ARCO) therapy for uncomplicated falciparum malaria in adults of Papua New Guinea: a preliminary report on safety and efficacy.

Background: The use of anti-malarial drug combinations with artemisinin or with one of its derivatives is now widely recommended to overcome drug resistance in falciparum as well as vivax malaria. The fixed oral dose artemisinin-naphthoquine combination (ANQ, ARCO) is a newer artemisinin-based combination (ACT) therapy undergoing clinical assessment. A study was undertaken to assess the safety, efficacy and tolerability of ANQ combination in areas of multi-drug resistance to generate preliminary baseline data in adult population of Papua New Guinea.