Malaria deaths rise in Ethiopia

Aid agencies and government officials are battling with a ravaging malaria outbreak in Ethiopia.

The number of deaths following the outbreak has increased threefold, according to aid agency officials.

Efforts to contain the disease are being frustrated by the use of ineffective drugs, aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has said.

The Ethiopian health ministry has allegedly rejected the use of a cocktail of drugs recommended by MSF.

Evaluating

MSF spokeswoman in Ethiopia, Annick Hamel, told the BBC Focus on Africa programme 5,000 people are contracting malaria every week in the regions they operate from.

She said about 15 million more are threatened by the outbreak - the worst ever seen in Ethiopia .

Ms Hamel said the combination of drugs they recommend to use to contain the outbreak has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

But Ethiopian health officials are reportedly evaluating the drugs before they approve their use.

MSF says the drugs are being used in South Africa, Zambia and Zanzibar, countries considered by the WHO to be malaria zones.