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Add to Preferred SourcesUnitAid and Jhpiego launched a $26.5 million initiative to combat growing artemisinin resistance that threatens malaria treatment across Africa, where the disease killed over 600,000 people in 2024, according to UnitAid. The four-year STOP-AMDR project will introduce multiple first-line therapies in six countries to reduce reliance on artemether-lumefantrine, which accounts for over 80% of African malaria treatments. Recent studies confirmed artemisinin partial resistance emergence in several African areas, putting millions at risk.
Artemisinin-based combination therapies have anchored malaria treatment since 2001, but resistance threatens decades of progress. Africa’s heavy dependence on single drug combinations leaves countries vulnerable when resistance develops, particularly endangering young children and pregnant women who face the highest malaria risks.
The project operates in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda, working with national programs and communities to deploy multiple effective treatments together or in rotation. This strategy aims to slow resistance spread while new non-artemisinin therapies remain unavailable until 2027. Unitaid Executive Director Philippe Duneton called drug resistance “one of the most serious threats to malaria control and elimination in Africa.” Imperial College London estimates that widespread resistance could cause 16 million additional cases, 80,000 more deaths, and $1 billion in annual economic costs.
STOP-AMDR will strengthen supply chains, prepare health systems for rollout, and develop frameworks for long-term integration into national health strategies. Rwanda’s Dr. Aimable Mbituyumuremyi noted the partnership advances “multiple first-line therapy strategies to protect health and save lives for generations to come.”