The Ministry of Health began offering a new treatment against malaria in the Unified Health System (SUS) for children under 16 years of age. The medication tafenoquine, in the pediatric formulation of 50 mg, is indicated for patients weighing between 10 kg and 35 kg. Until then, the medicine was only available to young people and adults aged 16 and over.
Around 50% of malaria cases in Brazil occur in children. The new drug will be distributed gradually, with priority given to regions in the Amazon, where the disease is more common.
Brazil became the first country in the world to make this treatment available to children. Initially, 126,120 tablets of pediatric tafenoquine will be distributed, indicated for cases of vivax malaria, with the aim of reducing relapses and transmission of the disease.
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