Malaria prevention in low- and middle-income countries

Malaria is a life threatening disease that is a huge burden in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), disproportionately affecting children under five and those residing in rural areas. In 2023 the WHO Africa Region was home to 94% of all malaria cases and 95% of deaths. Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is both preventable and curable, so work is required to understand how it is still so prevalent and why preventative measures aren't working. New medical options are needed to improve adherence and to fit the lifestyles of those in the areas most effected.

Malaria is commonly misdiagnosed as the symptoms of malaria resemble many other illnesses and diseases. The difficulty with misdiagnosing malaria is that it needs to be treated within 24 hours or it can progress to an incredibly severe illness and even lead to death.

Malaria symptoms

Symptoms can be mild or life-threatening.

Mild symptoms are:

• Fever
• Chills
• Headache.

Severe symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Confusion
• Seizures
• Difficulty breathing.

The malaria burden

• There were 263 million global cases of malaria in 2023, 14 million more than the year before
• Malaria disproportionately affects children under five and those residing in rural areas
• In 2023 the WHO Africa Region was home to 94% (246 million) of all malaria cases and 95% (569,000) of deaths
• The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 597,000 in 2023
• In Africa, children under 5 years of age accounted for around 76% of all malaria deaths
• Four countries in Africa accounted for over half of the malaria deats: Nigeria (30.9%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11.3%), Niger (5.9%) and United Republic of Tanzania (4.3%).

Source: World Health Organisation's Malaria factsheet

LONGEVITY and malaria

The malaria burden can be reduced by tackling the issue of non-adherence to current malaria prevention regimens which require taking many tablets, and adding new tools to the control strategies currently available.

The LONGEVITY Project aims to broaden the long-acting technologies available for people in LMICs. We are exploring development of a microarray patch (MAP) that people can wear on their skin for a few hours but will continue to release relevant medication for a period of time after it's removed. MAPs could dramatically impact ease and tolerability of malaria prevention, especially in those most effected i.e. newborns, babies and children. This will simplify drug delivery to improve adherence, reduce transmission rates and support future strategies to eliminate the disease.

LONGEVITY's malaria journey

The below information shows the foundations of the journey that LONGEVITY takes from concept to project completion for our malaria work.

Drug identification

• Identify an existing, safe drug regimen that isn’t working well or could be improved to positively impact patients’ lives.

CELT Global Health Chemistry Team

• Use currently available drugs and various technologies to create formulations that are potentially long-acting
• Perform in-house stability studies to make sure the formulation is stable at ambient temperature over days and weeks
• Screen hundreds of potential formulations, following the leads that come from them.

Microarray patch testing

• Queen’s University Belfast School of Pharmacology receive leads from the CELT Global Health team
• Test whether these formulations work in a microarray format either alone or in combination with another medication
• Dose ranging to see how much of the drug(s) can go into the patch
• Test that the patch with the drug is durable and stable (i.e. doesn’t break on application to the skin, applies evenly).

Proof of concept

• When the above stages have been achieved, we will have proof of concept that the correct malaria preventing drug can be administered at the required dose through a microarray patch.

Read our latest blog content

• CELT recognise World Malaria Day 2025
• An update on our malaria work for World Malaria Day 2024
• Invest, Innovate and Implement – How LONGEVITY can help deliver ZERO malaria
• Fighting on the front-line – Empowering communities to drive long-acting injectable innovation
• Saving lives through long-acting injectable innovation

 

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