WHO/N. Thomas
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World Malaria Day 2022

Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives

   

World Malaria Day 2022 will be marked under the theme “Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives.” No single tool that is available today will solve the problem of malaria. WHO is calling for investments and innovation that bring new vector control approaches, diagnostics, antimalarial medicines and other tools to speed the pace of progress against malaria.

Despite steady advances in lowering the global burden of malaria between 2000 and 2015, progress has slowed or stalled in recent years, particularly in high burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Urgent and concerted action is needed to set the world back on a trajectory toward achieving the 2030 targets of the WHO global malaria strategy.

Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that continues to have a devastating impact on the health and livelihood of people around the world. In 2020, there were an estimated 241 million new cases of malaria and 627 000 malaria-related deaths in 85 countries. More than two thirds of deaths were among children under the age of 5 living in the WHO African Region.

 

 

   

RTS,S malaria vaccine

In October 2021, WHO recommended the broad use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine for young children living in areas with moderate and high malaria transmission. The recommendation was informed by results from an ongoing WHO-coordinated pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has reached more than 900 000 children since 2019. Evidence and experience from the programme has shown that the vaccine is safe, feasible to deliver and reduces deadly severe malaria. RTS,S is an example of innovation at work and a scientific breakthrough – it is the first vaccine recommended for use against a human parasitic disease of any kind.

   

Innovate to eliminate: community-focused malaria interventions in Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic

How do you design a malaria elimination programme for hard-to-reach communities who already have difficulty accessing health care? National malaria programmes in Cambodia and Lao People's Democratic Republic are leveraging local know-how of village malaria workers to educate communities about malaria risks and encourage prevention.

 

Perspectives from frontline malaria workers

What new approaches are countries using to reach people at risk of malaria with the services they need? WHO spoke with representatives from National Malaria Programmes in 2 countries – Cameroon and Guyana – about innovations in the delivery of malaria prevention, diagnostics and more. 

 

Door-to-door distribution of mosquito nets in Cameroon
Ministry of Health, Cameroon
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New frontiers in vector control

In recent years, researchers have been developing new tools and technologies in the field of malaria vector control to enhance efforts to combat the disease, such as new types of insecticide-treated nets, spatial mosquito repellents and gene-drive approaches. WHO spoke with several researchers about some of the exciting innovations in the pipeline. See, also, our interview with Dr Audrey Lenhart, head of the Entomology Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and incoming co-chair of WHO’s Vector Control Advisory Group (VCAG).

Anopheles adult mosquito
WHO/S. Torfinn
Anopheles adult mosquito at the KEMRI/CDC research institute in Kisumu, Kenya
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