Promoting malaria chemoprevention

Preventive chemotherapy is the use of medicines, either alone or in combination, to prevent malaria infection and its consequences. It requires giving a full treatment course of an antimalarial medicine to vulnerable populations (generally pregnant women, infants and children under 5 years of age) at designated time points during the period of greatest malarial risk, regardless of whether the recipient is infected with malaria.

WHO convened in 2021 a group of technical experts to review existing chemoprevention recommendations and ensure that these remain up-to-date and informed by the latest evidence. In line with the group's findings, WHO updated its recommendations for 3 key malaria prevention strategies: seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), perennial malaria chemoprevention (PMC – previously known as intermittent preventive treatment in infants, or IPTi) and intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp). The new recommendations were published in the WHO guidelines for malaria in June 2022. 

WHO works with experts and manufacturers to develop “preferred product characteristics” to guide the development of urgently needed medicine for malaria chemoprevention. WHO also collaborates with external partners and donors to generate operational experience on the implementation of preventive chemotherapy for pregnant women. The Tip Top Programme, for instance, is exploring the potential of community health workers to enhance the coverage of this intervention.  Finally, WHO also supports malaria-endemic countries for the adoption of appropriate mixes of chemotherapy interventions based on their specific needs.