Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O'Shaughnessy on 5 December (HL3532) and 27 November (HL3227), whether they have seen the unclassified order of the US Surgeon General’s Office of the Army Special Command of 13 September 2013; whether there is any difference between the drug of the same name administered to US troops and that issued to British troops; and why it is necessary to demonstrate that the neurological damage caused by the administration of mefloquine is permanent before acknowledging the persistence of the neurotoxic effects of the drug.

We have considered this order.

There is no difference in the anti-malarial drug Mefloquine (under the brand name Lariam) currently provided to the United Kingdom and United States armed forces.

Mefloquine is effective in the prevention and treatment of malaria. Approved by the Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency, the current product information states that neuropsychiatric adverse reactions may occur during treatment and includes warnings and precautions to minimise these risks. Some of these reactions may persist, but it has not been established whether these are permanent.

Mefloquine continues to be recommended as a safe and effective form of malaria prevention by the Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention, the World Health Organization and other respected organisations who take account of the body of global evidence.