Scaling malaria interventions: bottlenecks to malaria elimination

Abstract

The slow progress in malaria control efforts and increasing challenges have prompted a need to accelerate the research and development (R&D), launch and scaling of effective interventions for malaria elimination. This research, including desk research and key informant interviews, identified the following challenges along the end-to-end scale-up pathway of malaria interventions. Underinvestment in malaria R&D persists, and developers from low-resource settings are not commonly included in the R&D process. Unpredictable or unclear regulatory and policy pathways have been a hurdle. The private sector has not been fully engaged, which results in a less competitive market with few manufacturers, and consequently, a low supply of products. Persistent challenges also exist in the scaling of malaria interventions, such as the fragmentation of malaria programmes. Further efforts are needed to: (1) Strengthen coordination among stakeholders and especially the private sector to inform decisions and mobilise resources. (2) Increase engagement of national stakeholders, particularly those in low-income and middle-income countries, in planning for and implementing R&D, launching and scaling proven malaria interventions. (3) Use financial incentives and other market-shaping strategies to encourage R&D for innovative malaria products and improve existing interventions. (4) Streamline and improve transparency of WHO’s prequalification and guidelines processes to provide timely technical advice and strategies for different settings. (5) Increase effort to integrate malaria services into the broader primary healthcare system. (6) Generate evidence to inform policies on improving access to malaria interventions.