Washington Post Malaria caused 597,000 deaths worldwide in 2023, with children under 5 accounting for 76 percent of all malaria deaths in the World Health Organization’s Africa region. The first malaria drug for newborn babies and those weighing less than 11 pounds has been approved by Swiss medical authorities in a move that could fill a treatment gap for some of those most vulnerable to the disease, developers and experts say.
Coartem Baby, also known as Riamet Baby, was developed by the Swiss nonprofit organization Medicines for Malaria Venture in collaboration with the Swiss drug company Novartis to treat the deadly mosquito-borne illness, MMV said in a statement Tuesday.