Khadijah Shehu Abdulkareem
A malaria treatment has been approved for infants for the first time ever.
Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.
The region is home to 94% of global malaria cases (246 million) and 95% (569,000) of all malaria deaths.
The majority of fatalities are children under 5 years old.
A press release by pharmaceutical company Novartis said, eight African countries had participated in the assessment of the breakthrough medicine as they are expected to roll out treatments in the fall.
Until now, there has been no approved malaria treatment for infants weighing less than 4.5 kilograms, leaving a deadly treatment gap, the press release states.
They have instead been treated with formulations intended for use in older children, which may increase the risk of overdose and toxicity.
The new treatment has an adjusted dose strength designed specifically for the youngest children.
The most recent figures from WHO show that there were 597,000 deadly cases of malaria in 2023 across 83 different countries.
Novartis plans to introduce the treatment on a largely not-for-profit basis to increase access in areas where malaria is endemic starting with the eight African trial countries: Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda.