Abstract
The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee to the World Health Organization held its sixth meeting in Geneva, Switzerland from 10 to 12 September 2014. This article provides a summary of the discussions, conclusions and recommendations from that meeting.Meeting sessions covered the following: an update on drug resistance and containment including an assessment on the feasibility of elimination of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the Greater Mekong Subregion; guidance on the control of residual malaria transmission by behaviourally resistant vectors; progress on the implementation of the Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management; updates on the Global Technical Strategy, Global Malaria Action Plan and the Plasmodium vivax technical brief; gaps in current World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme guidance for acceleration to elimination; surveillance, monitoring and evaluation; the updated World Health Organization Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Malaria; Round 5 product testing for rapid diagnostic tests; and Intermittent Preventive Treatment for infants.Policy statements, position statements, and guidelines that arise from the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee meeting conclusions and recommendations will be formally issued and disseminated to World Health Organization Member States by the World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme.
Highlights
The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) to the WHO held its sixth meeting from 10 to 12 September 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, following its meetings in February and September 2012, March and September 2013, and March 2014 [1,2,3,4,5]
Programme reorientation towards elimination may be considered in areas where essential clinical services are available, the basic needs of the population are covered, malaria transmission has been reduced to a level where less than 5% of all febrile patients suspected of having malaria carry malaria parasites, and case-loads are becoming manageable
The wording for recommendations were finalized by MPAC during their closed session following the two days of open sessions; conclusions have been included in the summaries of the meeting sessions above, and links to the full set of meeting documents are provided as references
Summary
The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) to the WHO held its sixth meeting from 10 to 12 September 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, following its meetings in February and September 2012, March and September 2013, and March 2014 [1,2,3,4,5]. That new research has accrued, MPAC approved the establishment of an ERG on the role of MDA, MSAT and FSAT for malaria transmission reduction and elimination to: a) review all available published and unpublished reports on the impact of MDA, MSAT and FSAT on malaria transmission, building on a recent Cochrane Review and an additional review from Global Health Group; b) review results of experiences/unpublished studies of large-scale implementation of MDA in Comoros, at the Thai-Myanmar border, and Zanzibar; and of MSAT in Zambia and other locations; c) evaluate the additional role of concomitant administration of low-dose primaquine (0.25 mg base/kg) as a gametocytocide for P. falciparum together with the artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) when deployed for MDA; d) define the specific conditions under which MDA, MSAT and FSAT should be deployed to reduce malaria transmission in terms of endemicity, drugs and dosages, diagnostics, timing and number of MDA rounds, concomitant implementation of vector control measures and best strategies to ensure community uptake and pharmacovigilance; e) identify research gaps and provide recommendations on data requirements, study methods and ethical considerations for research groups and policy makers interested in further evaluating the role of MDA, MSAT and FSAT in reducing malaria transmission. IPTi with SP can be a costeffective strategy for reducing malaria morbidity in infants and MPAC urged those countries where IPTI would potentially be beneficial to consider its implementation
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