Plant Shortage Leaves Campaigns Against Malaria at Risk.

Reports on the shortage of artemisinin, a Chinese herbal drug used for malaria, because of rising demand by Western public health agencies and donors. Consequences of switching to other antimalarial drugs; Suggestion that the shortage begun after Western public health agencies and donors announced that they wanted malaria-prone countries to phase out older drugs and adopt multidrug combinations containing artemisinin or its derivatives artemether or artesunate; Plan to grow wormwood, the source of artemisinin, in India, Tanzania and southern Africa.