Global malaria experts expand recommendations on disease control
27 June 2013
The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee, a group of experts providing independent advice to the World Health Organization on the disease, met for the third time in March in Switzerland. The Malaria Journal has now published the conclusions of the meeting as part of their thematic series ‘WHO global malaria recommendations'.
Presentations and discussions at the Geneva meeting covered several important aspects of malaria control, and diagnosis was of particular relevance. In fact, health workers often ignore negative test results and still treat patients with malaria drugs simply because they have fever.
This not only increases the risk of the treatment becoming less effective, but also reduces the benefits of a malaria diagnosis and ultimately leads to the waste of expensive drugs.
Experts at the meeting made a number of recommendations for global malaria control partners, including the need to better understand and treat fever cases that are caused by other diseases.
Diagnosis is very closely linked with treatment, which also deserved attention. Early results of research in Suriname and Guyana have shown limited signs of cases of resistance to artemisinin - the recommended drug to treat malaria. However, evidence is not sufficient to state that drug resistance is spreading and experts recommended carrying out further studies.
Progress on treatment and vaccination guidelines
The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee said they aim to publish an updated version of the WHO Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria in late 2014. These guidelines, which were last revised three years ago, are based on research evidence and inform treatment protocols around the world.
In late 2015, the Committee and the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization will also make policy recommendations on malaria vaccination. The protocol will be based on all data available from a candidate vaccine that is currently being developed by GlaxoSmithKline and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.
Experts emphasized that a potential vaccine would not replace, but only complement, policies that currently exist to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria.
Tackling malaria in most affected areas
Robert Newman, who leads the WHO Global Malaria Programme, said it is urgent to improve the surveillance systems of malaria, which have shown to be weaker where the disease burden is higher.
The Advisory Committee agreed that malaria endemic countries need more human resources to manage malaria programmes and implement policy recommendations.
In the next few months, an Elimination Scenario Planning toolkit will also become public to give operational and financial guidance to move from the control to the elimination phase of malaria programmes. The toolkit was developed by the WHO Global Malaria Programme in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the University of California San Francisco.
The next meeting of the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee will take place from 11 to 13 September in Geneva.
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