Atovaquone/Proguanil 250mg/100mg Tablets – Malaria Prevention (12 Tablets)

Atovaquone/proguanil 250mg/100mg is a prescription-only antimalarial used to prevent malaria in adults and in children and teenagers who weigh more than 40kg. This 12-tablet pack suits short trips and travellers under 18 who weigh more than 40kg. At Ways Pharmacy it is supplied only after a pharmacist has checked current advice for your destinations and confirmed that it is suitable for you.

How to access this medicine

1. Start your free online assessment. Answer the health questions online about your full itinerary and travel dates, your health and your current medicines, and confirm your identity (upload photo ID, or show it on a video call).
2. Pharmacist reviews and speaks with you. A GPhC-registered pharmacist contacts you by phone or video to confirm whether the medicine is suitable. For anyone under 18, a parent or guardian must join the video call and give the child's current weight.
3. If suitable, order and pay on this page. Once the pharmacist confirms the medicine is suitable and how many packs your travel dates need, you order that quantity and pay on this page, or call 020 8106 7084. The pharmacist checks the quantity against your travel dates before supply: extra packs you do not need are refunded, and if you need more we ask you to add them. If it is not suitable — including when the pharmacist gives advice only — you pay nothing, and the pharmacist explains your other options. If you have already paid and the pharmacist finds the medicine is not suitable, you receive a full refund.
4. We post your medicine or you collect it. Orders placed by 3pm on a weekday are posted the same day (see our shipping policy), or you can collect from Holborn.

There is no separate consultation fee. If the medicine you chose is not suitable, the pharmacist may suggest another option.

About this medicine

For longer trips, the pharmacist works out the exact number of tablets from your dates and tells you how many packs you need before supply. All malaria prevention options and pack sizes are shown on our malaria tablets page.

Dosage

• Adults and anyone weighing more than 40kg: 1 tablet once a day, at the same time each day, with food or a milky drink
• Start 1–2 days before you enter the malaria area, take it every day while you are there, and continue for 7 days after you leave
• If you vomit within 1 hour of taking a tablet, take another one
• Do not stop early: the 7 days after you leave are part of the protection

The pharmacist will confirm the exact course for your dates.

Warnings and who should not take this medicine

• Anyone allergic to atovaquone, proguanil or any ingredient of the tablets
• People with severe kidney problems
• Children weighing 40kg or less — the paediatric tablet is used instead
• People taking rifampicin, rifabutin, metoclopramide, efavirenz or some other HIV medicines, or warfarin or similar anticoagulants — always tell the pharmacist everything you take
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding: the pharmacist will discuss whether this medicine is suitable and may refer you for specialist advice
• Anyone who already has a fever or other symptoms that could be malaria — get medical help the same day instead

No antimalarial gives complete protection. Use insect repellent, cover up from dusk to dawn and sleep under a net where advised. Fever or flu-like illness during or after travel, even up to a year after you return, needs same-day medical assessment: call NHS 111 or go to A&E and say where you travelled.

Possible side effects

Possible side effects include headache, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, reduced appetite and skin reactions. Stop taking it and get urgent medical help if you develop swelling of the face, lips or throat, difficulty breathing or a severe skin reaction. If repeated vomiting stops you taking the tablets, ask a pharmacist or doctor for advice.

Regulatory information

• Legal status: Prescription-only medicine (POM), supplied under a Patient Group Direction after pharmacist assessment
• Pharmacy: Ways Pharmacy, 77 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4ET · GPhC-registered premises 9012227
• Patient information leaflet: electronic Medicines Compendium (emc)
• Report suspected side effects through the MHRA Yellow Card Scheme

This page gives factual information about a prescription-only medicine and is not an advertisement to the public. It is supplied only after a pharmacist has assessed that it is suitable for you.