DAILY RENDEZVOUS

Daily Rendezvous  In a   2019 vector alert , WHO identified the spread of  Anopheles stephensi  as a significant threat to malaria control and elimination – particularly in Africa, where the disease hits hardest. A   new WHO initiative , launched today, aims to stop the further spread of this invasive mosquito species in the region. Originally native to parts of South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula,  An. stephensi  has been expanding its range over the last decade, with detections reported in Djibouti (2012), Ethiopia and Sudan (2016), Somalia (2019) and Nigeria (2020). Unlike the other main mosquito vectors of malaria in Africa, it thrives in urban settings. With more than 40% of the population in Africa living in urban environments, the invasion and spread of  An. stephensi  could pose a significant threat to the control and elimination of malaria in the region. But large-scale surveillance of the vector is still in its infancy,...

Daily Rendezvous On World Malaria Day, WHO calls for continued innovation to save lives More than 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have now received one or more doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine, thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by WHO. The malaria vaccine pilots, first launched by the Government of Malawi in April 2019, have shown that the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) vaccine is safe and feasible to deliver, and that it substantially reduces deadly severe malaria.  These findings paved the way for the historic  October 2021 WHO recommendation  for the expanded use of RTS,S among children living in settings with moderate to high malaria transmission. If widely deployed, WHO estimates that the vaccine could save the lives of an additional 40 000 to 80 000 African children each year.  More than US$ 155 million has been secured from  Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance  to support the introduction, procurement and delivery ...

Daily Rendezvous GENEVA  – Inequities have been widely acknowledged as barriers to achieving global and national goals and targets in HIV, TB and malaria programs. However, the magnitude and extent of underlying health inequalities have remained poorly documented and understood. Until those inequalities are better identified, and their consequences better understood, it will be hard for programmes to meet people’s real health needs. Now, for the first time, a  new report  from the World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, systematically assesses the global  State of inequality: HIV, tuberculosis and malaria . The report represents an important step forward in understanding how inequalities are hindering the fight against the three diseases. Using the latest available global data for 32 health indicators up to 186 countries, it shows that while national averages of HIV, TB and malaria indicators have generally i...