Malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong sub-region

Dr Lorenz von Seidlein from our MORU unit in Bangkok, Thailand, tells us about his research on malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong sub-region Multidrug resistant P. falciparum malaria is now established in parts of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, causing high treatment failure rates for artemisinin combination therapies, the main falciparum malaria medicines. A further spread from Myanmar to India then sub-Saharan Africa would be a global public health disaster. TME seeks the best ways to eliminate drug-resistant malaria, using both technical solutions and novel ways that engage entire communities. Dr Lorenz von Seidlein coordinates MORU’s Targeted Malaria Elimination (TME) study, which seeks to eliminate artemisinin resistant falciparum malaria by treating entire communities that have significant levels of subclinical malaria parasite infections and transmission with the antimalarial Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PIP).