WHO Bulletin: Rectal artesunate for severe malaria, implementation research, Zambia

This article presents the results of a large-scale implementation project in Zambia demonstrating that community-level administration of rectal artesunate by trained health volunteers significantly reduced child mortality from severe malaria. The intervention, implemented across 10 rural districts, included volunteer training, emergency transport systems, and improved drug availability, resulting in a reduction of severe malaria deaths from 3.1% to 0.5% in two demonstration districts and from 6.2% to 0.6% in eight scale-up districts. The findings support the broader adoption of pre-referral rectal artesunate treatment in high-malaria settings when integrated with systemic community and health facility support.

Download: WHO-RAS-article-published-1.pdf

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