{"id":139529,"date":"2026-05-01T07:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T07:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/who-approves-first-ever-malaria-drug-for-babies-weighing-2-5-kg\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T07:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T07:03:31","slug":"who-approves-first-ever-malaria-drug-for-babies-weighing-2-5-kg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/who-approves-first-ever-malaria-drug-for-babies-weighing-2-5-kg\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO approves first-ever malaria drug for babies weighing 2\u20135 kg"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NEW YORK, May 1 \u2013 The World Health Organization has prequalified the first antimalarial treatment specifically formulated for newborns and infants weighing between 2 and 5 kilograms, marking a new development in malaria treatment for the most vulnerable age group.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Announced on April 24, 2026, ahead of World Malaria Day, the prequalification of artemether-lumefantrine confirms that the medicine meets international standards of quality, safety, and efficacy.<\/p>\n<p>The newly introduced combination of artemether and lumefantrine is the first antimalarial formulation that is safe for babies weighing less than 5 kilograms (11 pounds).<\/p>\n<p>Until now, infants have been treated with drugs developed for older children, which expose the newborns to risks of dosing errors and toxicity.<\/p>\n<p>The WHO approval allows countries to authorize the drug even if they lack the capacity to conduct full clinical trials.<\/p>\n<p>The approval also enables UN agencies to procure and distribute the treatment in malaria-endemic areas, subject to government approval.<\/p>\n<p>Malaria has a major impact during pregnancy. Each year, it contributes to an estimated 10,000 maternal deaths, 200,000 stillbirths and around 550,000 babies being born with low birth weight, according to the WHO.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2000, global efforts have led to significant progress, with an estimated 14 million deaths averted, the WHO says.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, malaria remains a major global health challenge, with about 282 million cases and over half a million deaths reported in 2024<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK, May 1 \u2013 The World Health Organization has prequalified the first antimalarial treatment specifically formulated for newborns and infants weighing between 2 and 5 kilograms, marking a new development in malaria treatment for the most vulnerable age group. Announced on April 24, 2026, ahead of World Malaria Day, the prequalification of artemether-lumefantrine confirms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}