First malaria drug for babies is approved in ‘major public health milestone’ | Global development
The first malaria treatment for babies was approved by the World Health Organization, opening the door to widespread use worldwide.
In some parts of Africa, Up to 18% of children under six months They will contract malaria, but historically there has been no safe treatment for the youngest of these. there was 610,000 deaths He died of malaria in 2024; nearly three-quarters of these were under the age of five in Africa.
The World Health Organization said babies with malaria have until now been treated with formulations designed for older children that “increase the risk of dosing errors, side effects and toxicity.”
Medical leaders hope Coartem Baby, which can be used to treat babies as young as 2 kg (4.4 lb), will fill the treatment gap. The medication comes in sweet cherry-flavored tablets that can dissolve in liquids, including breast milk.
“For centuries, malaria has robbed children from their parents and health, wealth and hope from communities,” said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But today the story is changing.”
Coartem Baby now WHO prequalifiedThis indicates that it meets international standards for quality, safety and effectiveness and will enable public sector procurement for many countries with high malaria rates, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ghebreyesus said new generations of bed nets, as well as new vaccines and diagnostic tests, are helping to turn the tide against the mosquito-borne disease.
Coartem Baby contains two antimalarial drugs, artemether and lumefantrine, and was developed by multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).
Development follows increasing research challenge historical fallacy It is stated that it is not possible for young babies to catch malaria because they maintain the immunity passed on from their mothers during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
MMV’s CEO Dr. Martin Fitchet said: “For too long, newborns and young babies with malaria have fallen through the cracks because existing treatments were not designed with them in mind.” He said the WHO decision was “an important milestone for public health.”
The treatment has already been introduced in Ghana. Baby Wonder, now eight months old, was among the first patients to receive the drug at 12 weeks old. The person was hospitalized due to high fever, and tests confirmed that the malaria parasite was high in his blood.
“I was very scared when my son caught malaria because he was born weak,” said his mother, Naomi.
Doctors at the hospital managed to coordinate access to Coartem Baby, and today Wonder is healthy and thriving.
Dr., a pediatrician at Methodist Hospital in Ankaase, Ghana. “As doctors, we tended to look for malaria in older children, but when newborn babies got sick, no one seemed to know what to do,” said Emmanuel Aidoo. “It gives us confidence to have a new well-tolerated treatment specifically for babies.”
Novartis said it would make the treatment available “largely on a not-for-profit basis in malaria-endemic areas.”
The Gates Foundation, which funds independent journalism produced on the Guardian’s Global development site, is also a donor to the Medicines for Malaria Initiative
