The WHO has approved the drug Coartem Baby for infants weighing from 2 kg. The soluble medicine will help avoid dosage errors and toxic side effects.
The World Health Organization has approved the first malaria drug for infants, paving the way for its widespread use globally, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.
Details
The WHO stated that previously, infants with malaria were treated with drugs intended for older children, “increasing the risk of dosage errors, side effects, and toxicity.”
Medical professionals hope that Coartem Baby, which can be used to treat infants weighing from 2 kg, will fill this treatment gap. The drug comes in the form of cherry-flavored tablets that can be dissolved in liquids, including breast milk.
“For centuries, malaria has taken children from parents, as well as health, wealth, and hope from entire communities,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But today, the situation is changing.”
The Coartem Baby vaccine has received WHO prequalification, indicating its compliance with international quality, safety, and efficacy standards, and will allow many countries with high malaria incidence, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, to procure it at a state level.
Ghebreyesus noted that new vaccines and diagnostic tests, along with next-generation mosquito nets, are helping to turn the tide in the fight against this mosquito-borne disease.
The Coartem Baby vaccine contains two antimalarial drugs: artemether and lumefantrine.
Addendum
In some regions of Africa, up to 18% of children under six months contract malaria, but historically there has been no safe treatment for the youngest. In 2024, 610,000 people died from malaria, about three-quarters of whom were children under five in Africa.