Building momentum for malaria vaccine research and development: key considerations
- PDF / 910,073 Bytes
- 4 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 70 Downloads / 180 Views
Malaria Journal Open Access
COMMENTARY
Building momentum for malaria vaccine research and development: key considerations Chetan E. Chitnis1, David Schellenberg2* , Johan Vekemans2, Edwin J. Asturias3, Philip Bejon4, Katharine A. Collins5, Brendan S. Crabb6, Socrates Herrera7, Miriam Laufer8, N. Regina Rabinovich9,10, Meta Roestenberg11, Adelaide Shearley12, Halidou Tinto13, Marian Wentworth14, Kate O’Brien2 and Pedro Alonso2
Abstract To maintain momentum towards improved malaria control and elimination, a vaccine would be a key addition to the intervention toolkit. Two approaches are recommended: (1) promote the development and short to medium term deployment of first generation vaccine candidates and (2) support innovation and discovery to identify and develop highly effective, long-lasting and affordable next generation malaria vaccines. Keywords: Malaria, Vaccine, Control, Elimination, Research and development Background In what is a truly great public health success story, expanded efforts to control and eliminate malaria have effectively halved malaria incidence and mortality since 2000. Several million lives have been saved in that time and a number of previously endemic countries in Asia, South and Central America and Africa have been formally declared malaria free. This astonishing success has been achieved with a limited toolkit, largely comprising methods to prevent transmission by the mosquito vector through the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying, the use of chemoprevention in specific, vulnerable groups, and effective chemotherapy following rapid point-of-care diagnosis. Current vector control and effective anti-malarial treatment strategies represent significant success in both product development and implementation science. However, progress in areas with high transmission has slowed and further reduction in malaria incidence and *Correspondence: [email protected] 2 World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
deaths has stalled in recent years. The 2018 and 2019, World Health Organization (WHO) World Malaria Reports documented a global increase in the number of malaria cases. Despite some countries achieving elimination, malaria increased in both the 10 most highly burdened countries and 11 of the 21 countries earmarked for elimination by 2020 [1]. A number of daunting realities impact on the potential for substantial further progress. These include: (1) malaria remains a staggeringly large human health problem with 1,200 malaria deaths every day, (2) longitudinal tracking of the effective implementation of existing tools show imperfect outcomes and suggests that existing tools may be insufficient to control malaria in high-transmission settings, no matter how well they are applied, (3) shifts in climate, population growth and movement, and changes in the location and species of vector, threaten to introduce malaria into new settings (for example, greater urban transmission in Africa by An
Data Loading...
