Can I buy malaria medication in India?

Question

In question 'Is it necessary to take malaria pills when travelling in South India?' we discussed whether it is necessary to take any medication. So if one has decided to take the pills, is it possible to buy them in India rather than buying them at home? If so, are all different types available and how much are they?

For my last trip in South East Asia I bought a good bunch of mefloquine pills in London for a lot of money. Because I stayed longer than planned and run out of them eventually, I had to buy more locally and there were much cheaper in SEA. (Yes, I do think they were the real thing!)

Answer 1

IMO Malaria medicines are not very much required,but if you want them,they are commonly available in India.Though malaria medicines are quite readily available in rural India also, I would recommend buying them from nearby city as quality of drugs in rural India may not be good(drugs may be fake). Wherever you buy drugs in India,insist on taking receipt as it more or less ensures original drugs and if any drugstore hesitates to provide you proper receipts,don't trust it.Keep in mind that in India, government provides important drugs quite cheaply,so you may get them from government hospitals probably for free or extremely cheaply(again don't rely on rural hospitals please).

However please keep in mind that malaria should not be your most important insect borne concern.Other diseases like dengue etc are more common there.

A suggestion:If you want to visit rural India(as it appears),please consider mosquito repellant cream or you can use what locals call a mosquito coil (though I hated the smell and think that the gas is not healthy). Best advise would be to use a mosquito net. It is awesome not only for protection against mosquitoes but also against many other insects(though you may not like it if you are visiting India in summer).

Answer 2

I read a lot about malaria prevention in India and also read dozen articles (since that's my profession) about malaria prevention worldwide. After reading all that, even though I'm a treat for mosquitoes (and get 150-200 bites per summer), I decided not to take any prophylaxis regarding malaria but will only use a mosquito net and bug repellants. Actually, India is not that dangerous when it comes to malaria and that myth that you must take antimalarial medication is staying alive because of the pharmaceutical companies.

There's no doubt that malaria is still present in some parts but it's not that common any more, especially for a tourist.

Quinine and similar drugs are very effective but you have to start taking them before you visit the affected areas because it takes about 10 days for them to start protecting you. That's the main downside. The other disadvantage is the price as they are quite expensive outside affected countries. The one that I would suggest from this category is Mefloquine (usually going by the name Lariam) since you don't have to take the pill every day but on weekly basis. None of these drugs are of lesser quality in India compared to UK or any other country and they are several times cheaper there. Don't worry about that if you do choose to use antimalarial pills.

Other option, especially if you have darker skin and are not prone to sunburns, is to use Doxycycline. The best thing about it is that it's dirt cheap everywhere you look for it and you can start using it just a couple of days before getting to malaria affected areas. It's also a regular antibiotic (I believe it's the second most widely used class of antibiotics in the world) which is less likely to cause any indigestion problems, or any other, for that matter.

Answer 3

So I decided not to buy any in advance and now I am in India (Chennai) and first I couldn't find any pharmacies at all. Then I found some but they did not have any malaria medication. On the third day I finally found the place that had my choice: Mefloquine. In Germany one pill was about 6 Euros, here it was just over 1 Euro.

So they are available and much cheaper, but not on any corner.

BTW, I was bitten about 50 times in the first night alone.

Answer 4

It depends on the drug - many need to be in your system for some time before they'll actually start protecting you, so if you buy them on site you have a period of time when you're both at risk and not actively protected.

If price really is a problem, and its an issue of it being cheap or you going without, consider Doxycycline as an option. It's by far the cheapest of the anti-malarials, enough so that I was able to pay for it out of pocket as a graduate student. It's major downside is it will make you more sensitive to sunburn, but the use of a hat and sunscreen can help address those problems, and should probably be used when traveling in India anyway. I didn't find it enough of a problem when I was in Africa to regret my decision, but to each their own.

I would say you should take something. While malaria is treatable at this point, and it isn't an issue of you dying, malaria will ruin your trip if you get it.

While mosquito netting is awesome, it only protects you while you're under the net.

Answer 5

I travelled to Sri Lanka and South India last year but made the crucial mistake of leaving it pretty late before getting vaccinations and travel medicines sorted. As a result, I had to go to a local travel shop for my vaccinations at short notice, because the NHS clinics in my area were fully booked up - and paid through the nose for typhoid and hepatitis A vaccinations.

So yes, my point is that I would look into getting all your medicines and so on well in advance, and not leaving it until you get to your destination to buy them. Medicines might be really cheap in India, but for malaria, you really need to have started taking it treatment before you go to get the full effect.

Answer 6

Mefloquine (tradename Lariam) is easily available at medical stores as well as Malarone is available at least in some places is India (e.g. Connaught Place in Mumbai). Or maybe you catch a foreign traveller with extra to sell.

But I wouln't recommend Mefloquine (Lariam) as antimalarial medicine, because there is controversy over it. Since its introduction, it has been directly linked to serious psychological side-effects including depression, anxiety, panic attacks, confusion, hallucinations, bizarre dreams, nausea, vomiting, sores and homicidal and suicidal thoughts. Malarone has the fewest reported side effects and it's which is much more recommended in preventing and treating Malaria.

But you can try to buy Malarone before you go to India, in any pharmacy (even in some Tesco's). It is better to buy them in advance by making the appointment with your doctor. If you can't, you may try to buy it on-line, there are several online pharmacies such as Total Pharmacy, Express Pharmacy, Travel Pharm, etc. After that usually you need to send your prescription via post. Please note that some fraudulent online pharmacies may attempt to sell an illegal generic version of Malarone. These medications may be counterfeit and potentially unsafe.