Lagos, Aug 5 (IANS): A new anti-malaria medicine developed in China has been introduced in Nigeria to contain the spread of the disease in the west African nation.

The drug Artequick was developed by Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. It is more efficient, less toxic and more patient-friendly than traditional anti-malaria drugs.

Over 95 percent of parasites are killed within 24 hours after using Artequick, Song Jianping, a medical professor from the university, told Xinhua.

The drug has slashed the prevalence of malaria on Moheli Island in the Comoros in east Africa to less than two percent from 23 percent, ever since a malaria control project was conducted by the university in 2007.

Malaria claims annually more than one million lives worldwide, mainly African children under the age of five, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).