The wrongful indictment of pre-referral rectal artesunate further delays the roll-out of this lifesaving drug.

Abstract

Administering rectal artesunate suppositories to patients with severe malaria before they receive parenteral and oral consolidation therapy was found to reduce mortality more than a decade ago. The roll-out of rectal artesunate could combat the current global increase in malaria deaths. Instead, on Jan 27, 2022, WHO recommended a moratorium on the deployment of rectal artesunate and in doing so stopped the roll-out of a lifesaving intervention. This decision was based mainly on the results from an observational study that is part of a larger project being conducted in Nigeria, Uganda, and DR Congo. The Community Access to Rectal Artesunate for Malaria (CARAMAL) project was not set up to provide patient transport to referral health-care centres for parenteral artesunate administration or logistic support to assure the availability of parenteral and oral antimalarial consolidation therapy. Using a before-after study design, which is known to be prone to bias, the study found that case fatality rates of severe malaria increased instead of decreased after the roll-out of rectal artesunate. However, the study and its analysis have methodological flaws that provide an alternative explanation for study findings. Instead of further delaying the roll-out of rectal artesunate, there is an urgent need for a concerted effort to provide rectal artesunate as originally intended, where and when it is needed.