Buying Malarone in Hong Kong

We left the UK with enough Malarone (our chosen antimalarial) for three months. Malarone is fully licensed in the UK for short trips, but only licensed on a named patient basis (i.e. at the discretion of individual doctors) for periods of between 28 days and three months. So we felt pretty special to have been allowed as much as we had. However after 32 days in India and 27 in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam supplies were running a little low. The advice on malarial risk, both verbally from several health professionals and on the internet on various websites, is highly variable. On whether Goa is malarial, for example, sources we have seen have varied between stating that there is "no risk" of contracting malaria in Goa, to there is a "significant risk"—including the more serious (often fatal) strain of the disease. So our strategy has been to take the tablets and enjoy the peace of mind.

Our research suggested that Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore are the only places in Asia where you can currently get Malarone. So our top priority for our first full day in Hong Kong was to contact the source we had found on the government's travel health service website. They say that they can supply "Atovaquone and Proguanil" (i.e. Malarone). After trying unsuccessfully to phone them we decided just to head over to their office and see what happened.

We got off the subway and quickly found the travel clinic. Normally you need an appointment but it was so quiet that the doctor was able to see us immediately. We explained where we were planning to travel next and that we would like some more Malarone and he was happy to prescribe it. We paid out 315 Hong Kong Dollars each (GBP 20.66 / USD 40.32) for the five minute consultation [Nice little earner! But we were out of other options] and HKD 1,070 each (GBP 70.17 / USD 136.96) for the pills, and within a couple of minutes we had two boxes each containing 29 one-a-day Malarone tablets.

If you've arrived on this blog because you're searching for Malarone in Hong Kong: here's how to get it. Take the MTR (subway) to Sham Shui Po (on the Tsuen Wan Line in northern Kownloon) and walk to Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road. Go to the first floor and ask for the Travel Clinic. They also apparently have an office in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong side, but we haven't tried it. The supplies we got appear to have come from Canada.