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23 January 2024
Although intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) is a long-standing WHO recommendation, about 58% of eligible pregnant women in 33 African countries were still not benefiting from the recommended 3 or more doses of this preventive treatment in 2022, according to the latest World malaria report. A new WHO field guide aims to increase IPTp-SP coverage using a community-based delivery approach through trained community health workers, complementing the provision of IPTp-SP at antenatal care clinics.
New field guide on community deployment of IPTp-SP | WHO guidelines for malaria | World malaria report 2023
RBM Partnership Consensus Statement on community-based delivery of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy
In a new consensus statement, the RBM Partnership “Malaria in Pregnancy Working Group” strongly encourages malaria-endemic countries to consider the implementation of community-based delivery of IPTp in eligible areas.
WHO has awarded a malaria-free certification to Cabo Verde, marking a historic milestone in the global response to malaria. Cabo Verde is the third country to receive the certification in the WHO African Region, joining Mauritius and Algeria. To date, a total of 43 countries and 1 territory have been granted the certification.
In June 2022, WHO issued new recommendations for countries in the final phase of malaria elimination. In addition to "mass" strategies applied to entire populations and "targeted" strategies for high-risk groups, the new WHO recommendations include three “reactive” strategies, to be triggered in response to confirmed malaria cases.
New video | WHO recommendations on malaria elimination | Malaria playlist on WHO YouTube channel
WHO has added the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to its list of prequalified vaccines. R21/Matrix-M is the second malaria vaccine prequalified by WHO, following the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which obtained prequalification status in July 2022. Both vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective for the prevention of malaria in children.
