World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is taking place this year from 18 to 24 of November.
 
One area of growing concern is the increase in the development of resistance of malaria parasites. In this context, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a report on antimalarial drug efficacy, resistance and response, drawing on 10 years of surveillance data. 
 
Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite (plasmodium falciparum) transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. According to WHO data, it causes approximately 400.000 deaths a year and the African region is where the highest burden of the disease can be found with an estimated 93% of the cases[1].
 
The emergence of drug resistance in malaria is as a threat to ongoing efforts to control the disease. The report provides data spanning over a decade regarding drug efficacy and surveillance and it also offers recommendations to monitor and protect the efficacy of treatments.
 

 

The new report draws on data collected through more than 1000 therapeutic efficacy studies as well as molecular marker studies of P. falciparum drug resistance over a 10-year period. Some of the findings of the report highlight that in the African region the two most commonly used treatments, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs)[2], continue to show high efficacy rates. However, current findings in Rwanda and Guyana regarding the detection of a molecular marker associated with partial artemisinin resistance[3] is a cause for concern and will require continued efforts on surveillance and monitoring.  According to the report “therapeutic efficacy studies remain the primary tool for monitoring the efficacy of nationally recommended antimalarial treatments in all countries. Molecular markers are an asset for early warning signals, or to investigate whether an ACT treatment failure was the result of resistance.”
 
The full report can be accessed here: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240012813
 
To access the latest information and data related to malaria, the WHO has also created a Malaria Threats Map that can be accessed here: http://apps.who.int/malaria/maps/threats/