A breakthrough in the fight against malaria: the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved for the first time a treatment that is also suitable for newborn babies. The treatment is now being released to hospitals and governments.
Until now, there was no treatment specifically aimed at newborn babies, so they sometimes received medication in formulations that were actually intended for older children. This creates the risk of overdose or poisoning, writes the WHO – which announced the treatment on Saturday on World Malaria Day.
It is not a new medicine, but a new composition, explains Professor Martin Grobusch, head of the Center for Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine at the Amsterdam UMC by telephone. “The most important news is not that there is a cure, but that a taboo has been broken,” says Grobusch. “There is a long ethical discussion going on as to whether it is desirable to conduct clinical tests on newborn children and pregnant women. As a result, we do not know exactly in which compositions the existing malaria medication best suits their bodies. This has changed with this treatment.”
Combination drug
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a parasite that can enter our blood through mosquito bites. Symptoms include high fever, muscle pain and eventually organ failure. Without proper treatment, the disease can be fatal; An estimated 610,000 people worldwide die from the disease every year and around 260 to 280 million people become infected. The disease mainly occurs in African countries.
The new treatment for newborns is carried out with a drug from pharmaceutical company Novartis, which kills the parasite as soon as it enters the bloodstream. “It is a combination medicine with two components: one that eradicates the parasite in the short term. The second ensures that the parasite has no chance in the longer term,” says Grobusch. “It has now been carefully determined which composition works best for newborn children.”
Malaria has been greatly reduced in recent decades in large parts of the world, but in recent years the fight against the parasite has stagnated. This is partly because the healthcare sector is still struggling with the after-effects of the corona crisis.
Over time, the parasite becomes resistant, meaning new medications are required each time.
In addition to simpler ways to combat the disease, such as innovative mosquito nets and mosquito spray containing DEET, medicines are indispensable, according to the WHO. “Eradicating malaria is now a real possibility, but only with continued political and financial commitment. We can do that and we must do that,” said Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.
According to Grobusch, this may be a bit of a positive thought; According to the professor, there is still a long way to go to completely eradicate the disease. “But you can also say: if you never say the ambition out loud, you will probably never achieve the total eradication of malaria.”
