ABSTRACT
190Every191 year, 1-2 million people (mainly children) living in the tropics and subtropics die of malaria. Artemisinin is the most effective treatment against malaria, the most infectious disease in the world today. Artemisinins are derived from extracts of sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) and are well established for the treatment of malaria, for example, highly drug-resistant strains. They resulted in one of the most significant advances in the treatment of malaria since the discovery and first use of quinine (1820). Their efficacy also extends to phylogenetically unrelated parasitic infections, for example, schistosomiasis. They showed potent and broad anticancer properties in cell lines and animal models. What hope does the drug offer for the future?
