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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), accelerating research and development (R & D) of new tools for malaria prevention and treatment is essential for the world to eradicate malaria for the foreseeable future : Today, less than 1% of funds earmarked for investments in health R & D go to research. develop tools to fight against malaria.
WHO also highlights the urgent need to make progress in advancing universal health coverage and improving access to services, as well as better surveillance to guide a more targeted response to malaria.
The findings of this study were outlined in a report of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group on Malaria Eradication (SAGme).
"To achieve a malaria-free world, we need to reinvigorate our efforts to find transformation strategies and tools that can be adapted to the local situation. The status quo does not only slow progress, it makes us back, "said Dr. Marcel Tanner, President of SAGme.
The group published the summary of its report in anticipation of the forum organized by WHO on the theme "Meeting the challenge of malaria eradication" to be held in Geneva on 9 September 2019.
Why is eradication of malaria important?
"Unleashing the world of malaria would be one of the greatest achievements of public health," says Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO. "With new tools and approaches, we can make this vision a reality."
The eradication of malaria would save lives and stimulate economies.
The health benefits would be greatest among the world's most vulnerable populations. Children under five account for 61% of all deaths from malaria. More than 90% of the world's 400,000 annual deaths from malaria occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
The group's analyzes showed that the intensification of current antimalaria interventions would prevent 2 billion new cases of malaria and 4 million deaths by 2030, provided that these interventions affect 90% of the population in the 29 countries which represent 95% of the global load.
The cost of this increase is estimated at 34 billion USD. The economic gain would be about $ 283 billion in total gross domestic product (GDP) – a benefit / cost ratio of over 8: 1.
Overcoming the challenges of eradication
Malaria infection and mortality rates worldwide have hardly changed since 2015. The WHO World Malaria Report of 2018 found that the world is not the only one of its kind in the world. was not on track to meet the 2030 targets set out in the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030 – 90% reduction in the incidence of cases of malaria. malaria and mortality rate.
In many countries, access to health services remains a major challenge. Only one in five pregnant women living in areas of moderate to high malaria transmission in Africa is able to obtain the drugs they need to protect themselves from malaria. Half of the people at risk of malaria in Africa sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets and only 3% are protected by an indoor spraying of insecticides.
This underscores the need to advance universal health coverage and strengthen health services and delivery systems so that everyone can have access to malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment, when and where they need it, without experience financial difficulties
The group emphasized the need to rethink approaches. WHO and its partners are already implementing new strategic approaches to fight malaria. Last November, for example, WHO and the RBM Malaria Partnership launched the "High burden for high impact" approach. The goal is to revive progress in the fight against malaria by drawing attention to the 11 countries that account for 70% of the global burden of malaria – 10 African countries and India.
This complements efforts to obtain certification of countries seeking to eliminate malaria by 2020, the WHO "E-2020" initiative. To date, WHO has certified 38 countries and territories free of malaria.
The need for new technologies
Most of the tools used today to fight malaria have been developed in the last century or even earlier: insecticide-treated mosquito nets, residual spraying indoors, diagnostic tests fast and artemisinin-based drugs.
New promising methods of diagnosis, medication, insecticides and vector control are being developed, as well as passive vaccination therapies such as monoclonal antibodies. The world's first malaria vaccine, RTS, S / AS01, has been deployed in Ghana and Malawi, and is planned for deployment in Kenya.
SAGme stresses the urgent need to intensify R & D to strengthen this pipeline, with emphasis on the Malaria Eradication Research Program (malERA), which is a useful starting point for guiding the necessary investments. in R & D
Remarks
The SAGme is made up of 13 leaders and scientists representing a range of disciplines and geographic regions. They are supported by representatives of WHO Collaborating Centers, WHO staff and other key stakeholders.
Over the last three years, the SAGme has examined the biological, technical, financial, socio-economic, political and environmental factors underlying malaria. Its final summary presents a set of conclusions and recommendations to the Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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