Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The World Health Organization has cleared, for the first time, a malaria treatment made specifically for newborns and young infants—closing a gap doctors have struggled with for years.The drug is a child-friendly version of artemether-lumefantrine—a two-drug therapy in which one component acts quickly to reduce parasites in the blood, while the other stays longer to clear the rest and prevent the illness from returning. It is designed for babies weighing between 2 and 5 kg. Until now, infants with malaria were treated using medicines meant for older children, often requiring dose adjustments that could lead to mistakes, side effects or even harm.The WHO prequalification clears the way for countries and global agencies to procure the medicine for public health programmes, expanding access to a quality-assured treatment for one of the most vulnerable groups. While the immediate impact is expected in high-burden regions such as Africa, the approval also opens the door for countries like India to adopt the formulation through national programmes if needed.“The announcements come as the world marks World Malaria Day today,” the WHO said, underscoring both urgency and opportunity in the fight against the disease.“For centuries, malaria has stolen children from their parents,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that new tools are helping turn the tide—but only if countries continue to invest in the fight.In parallel, WHO has also cleared three new rapid tests to improve malaria diagnosis. Current tests detect a protein called HRP2, but in many regions the parasite has evolved to evade detection—leading to missed cases, with studies from 46 countries showing gaps, including up to 80% under-detection in parts of the Horn of Africa.The new tests target a different marker, pf-LDH, which is more reliable. WHO has advised countries to switch if older tests miss more than 5% of cases—a recommendation that could become relevant for India if similar trends emerge.Globally, malaria remains a challenge, with an estimated 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths in 2024. While India has seen a sharp decline in cases over the past decade, the disease persists in some regions.Despite setbacks, progress has been significant: since 2000, about 2.3 billion infections have been prevented and 14 million lives saved, with vaccines and next-generation mosquito nets strengthening control efforts.
