The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urging the world to increase the implementation of new and existing malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment interventions on World Malaria Day.
Nearly 1.5 million children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi have now received their first dose of the first malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S).
According to WHO, the malaria vaccine pilots launched in 2019 could save the lives of tens of thousands of children each year if widely implemented.
According to the latest World Malaria report, there were an estimated 247 million new cases of malaria in 2021. The WHO African Region accounted for an estimated 95% of all malaria cases (234 million) and 96% of all deaths (593 000) in 2021. Nearly 80% of malaria deaths in the African Region were among children under the age of five.
WHO recently published new strategies and frameworks to address threats and assist countries in developing more resilient malaria programmes, which include:
- a new strategy to contain antimalarial drug resistance in Africa;
- a new initiative to stop the spread of Anopheles stephensi in urban environments;
- a new framework, developed jointly by WHO and UN-Habitat, to guide city leaders in urban malaria control.
- a new toolkit to help countries assess their malaria surveillance systems and identify areas for investment
The consolidated WHO Malaria Guidelines are available via MAGICapp and the "Malaria Toolkit" app. For maximum impact, WHO encourages countries to tailor the recommendations to local disease settings.
Continued investment in developing and deploying new malaria vaccines and next-generation tools will be critical to meeting the global malaria targets set for 2030.
If approved, a second malaria vaccine, the R21/Matrix-M (R21) vaccine, could help close the large gap between supply and demand, reducing child illness and death from malaria.
Phased introductions of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in additional countries in Africa are expected to begin in early 2024.
There are 28 new vector control products in the R&D pipeline. New insecticide-treated nets, targeted baits that attract mosquitoes, spatial repellents, lethal house lures (eaves tubes), and mosquito genetic engineering are among the tested tools.
Due to the emergence and spread of partial artemisinin resistance, researchers are prioritising the development of non-ACT treatments in the field of antimalarial medicines. Researchers are working on next-generation medicines such as "triple ACTs," which combine artemisinin with two partner drugs to reduce the risk of drug resistance.
Source: WHO
