As part of the fight against malaria, WHO prequalifies a diagnostic test for safer administration of malaria treatments. This is a diagnostic test for Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6pd) deficiency, which can help safely administer treatments. By Justin GOMIS –
The World Health Organization (WHO) has prequalified the first diagnostic test for Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6pd) deficiency, which can help safely administer the organization’s recommended treatments to prevent relapses of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria. This announcement was made by the WHO a few hours ago. “The prequalification of this G6pd deficiency diagnostic test marks an important step toward facilitating safe and effective treatment of P. vivax malaria. The WHO thus reaffirms its commitment to guaranteeing equitable access to vital medical resources on a global scale. Some 500,000 people, most of them children, die from malaria every year. The prequalification of this test comes immediately after the prequalification, in early December, of two new tafenoquine products (in English) intended to prevent relapses of P. vivax malaria, and these treatments were recommended in the guidelines of the “WHO updates on malaria published at the end of November,” announced the WHO in a press release.
It should be noted that the testing devices “can accurately distinguish people with higher than normal G6pd levels from those with lower levels, providing essential information for clinicians to decide which treatment regimen is most appropriate.” to prevent relapses of P. vivax malaria, including low- or high-dose primaquine and single-dose tafenoquine.
According to the WHO, “the Standard G6pd System diagnostic tool, manufactured by Sd Biosensor, Inc., is a semi-quantitative solution that can be used closer to patients, and designed to measure the enzymatic activity of G6pd in capillary or venous whole blood. The device is intended for use both in and out of the laboratory, and works with the Standard G6pd analyzer, a portable device that provides results in minutes.
This is good news for health facilities. Because P. vivax malaria is endemic in all WHO regions “with the exception” of Europe. In 2023, it was responsible for approximately 9.2 million clinical cases in 2023. “P. vivax is the dominant species in most countries outside sub-Saharan Africa,” notes the WHO, which explains that this “set of actions is part of the recent adoption by the organization of synchronized and parallel processes for two key functions: the development of recommendations for essential health products and the supervision of their prequalification.
The WHO recalls that “these processes remain entirely independent”, but it specifies that their harmonization “aims to significantly shorten the times necessary to transport vital health products to low- and lower-middle-income countries”. “This rationalization clearly shows that WHO is keen to improve health equity in the world by allowing faster access to vital products,” adds the UN organization. “Prequalification of this enzymatic test to detect G6PD deficiency in people with P. vivax malaria can help countries improve access to much-needed quality tests and thus prevent and treat this type of recurrent malaria in a safe and effective manner,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products. “We have not yet received any other requests for prequalification for tests of this type. We want more products to be submitted to us to expand the range of effective diagnostic tools available to countries that need them,” she added.
“Improved availability of the test can help strengthen the global fight against malaria by reducing the number of P. vivax infections due to relapse and thus onward transmission,” said Dr Daniel Ngamije Madandi, Program Director. World Malaria Program.
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