 Artemisinin-based combination chemotherapies have been documented to consistently produce faster relief of clinical symptoms and parasite clearance in uncomplicated falciparum malaria than any other currently used antimalarial drugs. So far, artesunate-amodiaquine AS-AQ and artemether-lumefantrine AR-LM are the only two registered fixed-dose artemisinin combination chemotherapies produced at industrial scale, with good manufacturing practices and already used in Africa. Several African countries, including Ghana, are therefore introducing either AS-AQ or AR-LM as first-line antimalarials or evaluating the case for such a change. Clearly, a direct comparison of both the safety and efficacy profiles of the two combinations under different epidemiological conditions is urgently needed to guide informed decisions on the most appropriate antimalarial first-line treatment regimen. 