Three African countries—Algeria, Cabo Verde, and Mauritius—have successfully eliminated malaria, but dozens more still face this deadly disease. Globally, only 44 countries have eradicated malaria.
The question of whether the rest of Africa catch up was explored in the latest Global Health Matters podcast, hosted by Dr. Garry Aslanyan.
To delve into this issue, Aslanyan spoke with two pioneers in the field: Francine Ntoumi, founder and executive director of the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research in the Republic of the Congo, and Corine Karema, director of Malaria, NTDs, and Global Health at Quality and Equity Health Care in Rwanda.
“I believe that with the few African countries that have eliminated malaria and the tools we currently have, it is possible for Africa to eliminate malaria,” said Karema. “But we need to be serious. We need to boost and accelerate our efforts in malaria elimination.”
So, what’s preventing its eradication? The experts identified four key challenges:
- Research
- Community engagement
- Finances
- Biological challenges, like drug resistance
“The major gap, we say, is the financial gap,” said Ntoumi. “To have our government putting more funds in for fighting malaria.”
Explained Karema: “With the anti-malarial drugs we are currently using, we’re already seeing partial resistance in four countries—Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia—to the only effective treatments we have.”
Another significant challenge is climate change, as environmental factors will affect the mosquito, the vector of malaria, and subsequently impact both humans and animals.
Both experts advocated for a One Health approach to eradicating malaria, which involves bringing together experts from various disciplines.
“The environmental component has not been fully considered in our investigations,” said Ntoumi. “So, that is an opportunity to do better.”
The discussion also addressed the malaria vaccine, which has made headlines in public health circles for its potential to save lives, particularly children’s lives. However, the results so far have been limited, returning to one of the core challenges: research.
“We hear many promises to reduce the malaria burden, but so far, the results with these two vaccines—R21 and RTS, which are pre-qualified by the WHO and recommended for use in seasonal and high-transmission areas—are still limited,” Ntoumi explained. “The data is promising, but there’s more to be done. Additionally, the limited availability of vaccine doses remains a problem. Perhaps this will change, but cost is also a concern. We need financial support to gather local data to improve vaccine implementation. If we don’t have enough doses, who gets them? We need more research to guide our advice to stakeholders.”
Karema emphasised that it took over 50 years to develop the vaccine and 20 years to create anti-malaria combination therapies. She added, “Just imagine if research prioritised malaria.”
For now, she concluded, there is no “silver bullet” except for “data, data, data” to guide policies and interventions toward eradication.
