Children with fever treated with anti-malarial drugs

Percent

Prompt treatment with effective antimalarial drugs for children with fever in malaria-risk areas is a key intervention to reduce mortality. In addition to being listed as a global Millennium Development Goals Indicator under Goal 6, effective treatment for malaria is also identified by WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank as one of the main interventions to reduce the burden of malaria in Africa. In areas of sub-Saharan Africa with stable levels of malaria transmission, it is essential that prompt access to treatment is ensured to prevent the degeneration of malaria from its onset to a highly lethal complicated picture. This requires drug availability at household or community level and, for complicated cases, availability of transport to the nearest equipped facility.

Percentage of children aged < 5 years with fever in malaria-risk areas being treated with effective antimalarial drugs.

Age, Location (urban/rural), Education level : Maternal education, Wealth : Wealth quintile, Boundaries : Administrative regions, Boundaries : Health regions

The number of children <5 years sleeping with fever who received treatment with any antimalarial = (The number of children aged 0-59 months with fever in the 2 weeks prior to the survey who received any anti-malarial medicine / The total number of children aged 0-59 months reported to have fever in the two weeks prior to the survey) x 100 Data are derived from household surveys such as Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Malaria Indicator Surveys (MIS).

Outcome

Data from nationally-representative household surveys, including Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and Malaria Indicator Surveys (MIS), are compiled in the UNICEF global databases. The data are reviewed in collaboration with Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership, launched in 1998 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.  Predominant type of statistics: adjusted

Regional estimates are weighted averages of the country data, using the number of children aged <5 years for the reference year in each country as the weight. No figures are reported if less than 50 per cent of children aged <5 years in the region are covered.

N/A

Annual

Every 3-5 years

WHO recommends Artemisinin Combination Therapy for the treatment of P.falciparum malaria in order to overcome resistance to commonly used antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine and to prevent or delay the development of further drug resistance. Artemisinin-based combination treatments (ACTs) (WHO, 2001) are considered to be the most effective combinations. ACTs combine an artemisinin compound with a partner antimalarial drug to which there is little or no resistance in the country or situation in which the ACT is to be deployed. The advantages of ACTs relate to the properties of artemisinin compounds, which include rapid reduction of the parasite biomass with fast resolution of clinical symptoms, reduce gametocyte carriage and, thus, the transmissibility of malaria, effectiveness against multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria, and a good safety profile. (WHO, 2010)