Medicines for Malaria Venture

Can Africa’s malaria-endemic countries catch up to Algeria, Cabo Verde and Mauritius, who have successfully eliminated the deadly disease?    This question was recently put to two prominent malaria experts – Francine Ntoumi and Corine Karema – who dove into the topic on the Global Health Matters podcast hosted by Garry Aslanyan from the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). During the conversation, the experts discussed key challenges to #malaria elimination – including funding, drug resistance and climate change – but also maintained that boosting and accelerating efforts, along with getting better at collecting and leveraging data, can support other African countries in their elimination efforts.    Read more and listen to the podcast: bit.ly/4eK3lNw 

MMV at the World Health Summit in Berlin- at least the ones who could make the photo! We are there discussing #innovation in drug development, how to tackle global health threats such as #malaria drug resistance and #partnership models to drive impact. Innovation comes at the intersection of fields, disciplines and backgrounds. Connecting and reconnecting with partners at conferences like these allow us to propel progress in malaria and beyond. 🚀 #WHS2024 #AMR #GlobalHealth #Partnership Justine Dufour Chris Greenwood Valentina Rapillard Andrea Lucard Abena Poku-Awuku Martin Fitchet, M.D. RBM Partnership to End Malaria The Global Fund Vestergaard European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership Impact Santé Afrique GSK University of Oxford Chevron Envu Business Alliance Against Malaria (BAAM) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative - DNDi IVCC (Innovative Vector Control Consortium) FIND PATH IAVI Sabin Vaccine Institute TB Alliance TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI)

One of the top global health threats is resistance to drugs, including those for deadly diseases like #malaria. But what if new innovations could turn the tide? This week, at the World Health Summit in Berlin, MMV’s Andrea Lucard joined a panel to discuss new tools and approaches to combat some of the most pressing global health challenges, including malaria drug resistance. Here are some takeaways: 💡 Innovation must be incentivized: Not every drug candidate succeeds, but those that do can be transformative. The 17 medicines supported by MMV have saved 15.4M lives—proof that with strong support, impactful R&D is possible. 🛡️ Protecting existing tools as we innovate for the future: It’s crucial to safeguard current solutions while driving progress. MMV and partners push for policies that preserve gains, like using multiple therapies to slow resistance. 🤝 Diversity drives breakthroughs: Real innovation happens when diverse minds come together. Collaborating with partners from different fields and backgrounds helps us go further in the fight against malaria. That's why events like these are so valuable, they allow us to strengthen existing connections and make new ones. #Partnership #AMR #WHS2024 The Global Fund Vestergaard Impact Santé Afrique GSK University of Oxford Chevron Envu Business Alliance Against Malaria (BAAM) Valentina Rapillard Justine Dufour Abena Poku-Awuku Chris Greenwood Martin Fitchet, M.D. olivia ngou Michael Adekunle Charles Janis Davis-Street Pascal Day Michael Makanga Thomas Breuer, MD, MSc Rima Shretta Peter Sands Caroline Desrousseaux

Modelling performed for a study published in Nature Portfolio reveals a pronounced change in #malaria incidence in Rwanda under different #climatechange scenarios. The country’s western and northern highlands, which currently have low levels of malaria, are projected to face an exponential increase in the future, likely due to shifting climate patterns.     Predicting the impact climate change will have on malaria control and elimination efforts is difficult. However, monitoring this impact can help inform public health policies, drive mitigation and adaptation actions, and foster global collaboration to better address and overcome this challenge.     Read the full article: go.nature.com/3ZZseAN 

Vestergaard, one of the biggest producers of mosquito nets globally, has partnered with the Nigerian government to establish a facility in the country that is set to be the first manufacturing hub for insecticide-treated nets in West Africa. This is welcome news and a considerable step in the right direction in terms of ensuring the production of livesaving tools where they are needed most.    Mosquito nets and other forms of vector control, together with preventive medicines and vaccines, make up a powerful trio of tools that can be used to protect more people from #malaria. Making these tools available in the countries shouldering the majority of the malaria burden is imperative to achieving the dream of a malaria-free future.    Read more about Africa’s first manufacturing hub for next-generation mosquito nets: bit.ly/3TWL2g5 

International Adolescent Health Week (#IAHW24) is an opportunity to build resilience for adolescents across all areas of global health, including #malaria and other neglected tropical diseases. Adolescents in endemic countries are shouldering part of the malaria burden, but also have important contributions to make to achieve a malaria-free future. To ensure adolescents are thriving, not just surviving, we must: 🌟 Empower them as advocates raising awareness and pushing governments to increase resources for malaria elimination. 💰 Fund civil society groups working on adolescent reproductive health and malaria R&D to eliminate the burden of the disease in Africa. 🩺 Train healthcare workers to debunk the stigma associated with adolescent reproductive health, including antenatal care. 🗣️ Include adolescents in high-level political advocacy forums to support malaria elimination initiatives.

The theme of this year’s International Adolescent Health Week (#IAHW24) is: 'Thriving not just surviving: Building adolescents’ resilience'. Adolescents have the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health, including reproductive healthcare. However, this right is often compromised for adolescents living in #malaria-endemic countries grappling with poverty, climate change, harmful cultural norms, political tensions, pandemics and health facility stock-outs of antimalarial medicines.      In the endemic countries of sub-Saharan Africa, pregnant adolescent girls are more susceptible to malaria due to their low immunity, and infection can result in anaemia, miscarriages, stillbirths or maternal deaths. The World Health Organization recommends intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp), regardless of whether a pregnant woman is infected with malaria or not, but this remains a far-reaching dream for most adolescents because of stigma and healthcare worker abuse.     To build adolescents’ resilience, MMV, through the RBM Partnership's Malaria in Pregnancy working group, is implementing an innovative advocacy pilot project in Liberia to strengthen maternal health outcomes and prevent malaria in pregnancy among adolescent girls. These types of multi-stakeholder partnerships are paramount to improving IPTp uptake and antenatal care attendance among adolescents in Liberia and beyond.      Learn more about MMV’s work to prevent malaria in pregnancy: bit.ly/3Nihohw 

Progressing towards malaria elimination can strengthen global health security and the economies of endemic countries, which can lead to a safer and more prosperous world for us all.     The UK has played an important role in the fight against #malaria and is well positioned to reinvigorate this fight and help transform the dream of a malaria-free world into a reality. A new Malaria No More UK publication convenes five experts to discuss how the UK’s recently elected government can make positive contributions to international development, global health and malaria.     Read it here: bit.ly/47VRlq6   

Last week at the United Nations General Assembly, David Walton, MD MPH of the U.S President’s Malaria Initiative sat down with Devex’s Michael Igoe to discuss the challenges adding complexity to the fight against #malaria and the need for sustained funding to accelerate progress towards a malaria-free future.  Watch the interview: bit.ly/3TOAyz6 

This week, MMV and partners hosted a side event at the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the many challenges posed by antimalarial drug resistance and advocate for the inclusion of #malaria treatments in the global antimicrobial resistance mitigation strategy.     During this event, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, Unitaid, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Global Fund issued a joint statement urging the global health community to heed the call from malaria-endemic countries to make existing alternative artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) available and affordable, and to accelerate actions to address antimalarial drug resistance.    MMV was formed to counter the malaria drug resistance crisis of the 1990s. Our 2024–2030 strategy was developed around the need to tackle the contemporary challenges of resistance. We welcome this statement and will continue leveraging our #partnerships to protect the efficacy of existing drugs while accelerating new #innovations in malaria prevention and treatment.    Read more: bit.ly/3BlVV4G