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New Drug For Recurring Malaria
A new drug to treat malaria has been given the green light by authorities in the United States.
The medicine is specifically for the recurring form of malaria - caused by the parasite plasmodium vivax - which makes 8.5 million people ill each year.
This type of malaria is a particular challenge to get rid of as it can remain dormant in the liver for years before reawakening many times.
Scientists have described tafenoquine as a "phenomenal achievement."
Regulators around the world will now look at the drug to see if they can recommend it for their populations.
Relapsing illness
Recurring malaria is the most common type of malaria outside Sub-Saharan Africa.
Children can be particularly at risk, getting several bouts of malaria from a single bite, missing lots of school and getting weaker each time they get the disease.
And infected people can act as unwitting reservoirs of the disease because when the parasite reawakens in their bodies a mosquito can carry that parasite on to someone else.
This can make it hard to eliminate around the world.
Now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has given the seal of approval to tafenoquine, a drug that can flush the parasite out of its hiding place in the liver and stop people getting it again.
It can be taken alongside another medicine to treat the immediate infection.
There is already a medication that can be used to get rid of malaria hiding in the liver called primaquine.
But unlike the single dose of tafenoquine needed, primaquine often needs to be taken for 14 days.
Some experts are concerned that many people feel better after just a few days and stop taking the pills, allowing the parasite to awaken at a later date.
Caution needed
The FDA says the drug is effective and approves it for use in the United States but points out that there are important side effects to be aware of.
For example people with an enzyme problem, called G6PD deficiency, should not take the drug as it can cause severe anaemia.
The regulator recommends people are tested for the deficiency for this before it is given - which can pose a problem in poorer areas where malaria is common.
There are also concerns that at higher doses it can be a problem for people with psychiatric illnesses.
But despite these cautions there is hope the drug, together with bed nets and other precautions, will help reduce the amount of vivax malaria in the world.
Prof Ric Price, of Oxford University, told the BBC: "The ability to get rid of the parasite in the liver with a single dose of tafenoquine is a phenomenal achievement and in my mind it represents one of the most significant advances in malaria treatment in the last 60 years."
Meanwhile Dr Hal Barron, president of research and development at GSK, the company that manufactures the drug, said it was a significant milestone for people living with this type of relapsing malaria.
"Together with our partner, Medicines for Malaria Venture, we believe Krintafel will be an important medicine for patients with malaria and contribute to the ongoing effort to eradicate this disease."
Tafenonquine has been in existence since the 1970s but working with Medicines for Malaria, GSK has repurposed the drug so that it can be used to get rid of malaria parasites in the liver.
The next step will be for the drug to be assessed by regulators in countries where this form of malaria is a significant problem.
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Generated by cloudfront (CloudFront) Request ID: kXkrjQSMyy9AF2_QNlgBfA6mNoc4-09vHhEP8587zbAOKSljz12BuA==India Sees 69% Decline In Malaria Cases And Deaths
Malaria remains a significant health challenge in India, particularly in rural areas. Efforts are underway to control and eliminate the disease. India has made notable strides in lowering both the incidence and mortality rates of malaria, as highlighted in the latest World Malaria report from the World Health Organization (WHO) (1✔ ✔Trusted SourceMalaria - World Health Organization (WHO)Go to source). Malaria: New Insights Malaria is a life-threatening disease spread to humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable. The report showed that the number of estimated malaria cases in India decreased to 2 million cases in 2023 from 6.4 million in 2017 (69 percent decrease). Similarly, the estimated malaria deaths decreased to 3,500 from 11,100 (68 percent decrease) during the same period. 'In 2023, #India made strides in reducing #malaria but still accounted for 50% of all estimated cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region.' As a result, "India exited the High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) group officially in 2024", the WHO said. The HBHI approach is a targeted malaria response that is used in several countries to accelerate the pace of malaria elimination in countries with high malaria burden. India joined the HBHI initiative in July 2019. The HBHI initiative was launched in four states in India: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The Region had eight malaria endemic countries in 2023 -- accounting for 4 million cases and contributing 1.5 percent of the burden of malaria cases globally. Just over 48 percent of all estimated cases in the region were due to P. Vivax.
However, from 2000 to 2023, malaria cases reduced by 82.4 percent, from 22.8 million in 2000, and incidence reduced by 87.0 percent, from 17.7 to 2.3 per 1000 population at risk, the report said. "The decrease can mainly be accounted for by a decrease in India of 17.7 million estimated cases and a decrease in incidence by 93 percent, from 20 to 1.5 per 1000 population at risk," the WHO reported.
At the same time, India and Indonesia accounted for about 88 percent of all estimated malaria deaths in this region in 2023.Notably, Bhutan and Timor-Leste, from the Region, reported zero malaria deaths since 2013 and 2015, respectively, while Sri Lanka was certified malaria-free in 2016."The progress follows the highest ever political commitment by Member countries, matched by tangible actions and unstinted efforts over the years down to the sub-national level," said Saima Wazed, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia."However, accelerated efforts against malaria must continue, to eliminate the disease in countries where malaria persists, and to sustain the progress in countries where the disease is on the decline or has been eliminated," she added. Globally, the WHO data reveals that an estimated 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths have been averted since 2000, but the disease remains a serious global health threat, particularly in the WHO African Region.
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In 2023, there were an estimated 263 million cases and 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide -- representing about 11 million more cases in 2023 compared to 2022, and nearly the same number of deaths. "An expanded package of lifesaving tools now offers better protection against the disease, but stepped-up investments and action in high-burden countries are needed to curb the threat," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.Reference:
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