Preventive chemotherapies

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 at designated time points during the period of greatest malarial risk, regardless of whether the recipient is infected with malaria.

WHO-recommended preventive chemotherapies for populations in malaria-endemic countries include:

• intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (all pregnancies) for women at risk of malaria;
• perennial malaria chemoprevention for infants and young children at high risk of severe malaria living in areas with moderate-to-high malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa;
• seasonal malaria chemoprevention for children at high risk of severe malaria living in areas with seasonal malaria transmission.
• post-discharge malaria chemoprevention for children living in areas of moderate-to-high malaria transmission following admission to hospital with severe anaemia;
• intermittent preventive treatment of malaria for school-aged children living in settings with moderate-to-high perennial or seasonal malaria transmission.

Mass drug administration, or the provision of antimalarial treatment to  all individuals living in a defined geographical area, regardless of whether they are infected with malaria, is also recognized as potentially valuable for disease reduction in  some situations.

These safe and cost-effective strategies are intended to complement other malaria control activities, including vector control measures, prompt diagnosis of suspected malaria, and treatment of confirmed cases with antimalarial medicines. WHO also recommends the use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine for young children living in areas with moderate and high malaria transmission.

The WHO Guidelines for malaria bring together all current WHO recommendations on malaria in one easy-to-navigate web-based platform. They are a living resource that will be updated periodically as new evidence becomes available. The Guidelines are currently available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.