New WHO guidelines for the treatment of malaria

The publication of a second edition of the World Health Organization’s guidelines for the treatment of malaria in March 2010 just four years after the first is testament to how quickly malaria control has developed in the past few years.1 This is not so much the result of new tools for control, but rather the changing use of existing tools, whose more effective application over the past 10 years has resulted in a marked reduction in the global burden of malaria.2

Both the first (2006) and new (2010) editions of the guideline provide a clear account of evidence and recommendations for the treatment of severe and non-severe malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum and the other four species of Plasmodium known to infect humans (P knowlesi now being recognised as an important zoonosis).3 In addition, annexes provide scientific detail and references, and the new edition has used the GRADE system, which details the strength of evidence behind each recommendation. The 2010 edition differs from the first edition in four important areas—refining and improving treatment of malaria, minimising the risk …