Addressing Artemisinin Resistance in Malaria Treatment: A Novel Ferrous ACT (FACT) Formulation

Abstract

Malaria is the worldwide infectious disease causing significant losses of human lives every year. The deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) has helped to reduce the losses caused by malaria. However, resistance to ACTs evolved especially by Plasmodium falciparum occurs and becomes more and more threats for human lives. Up to now, there is no effective way to solve this drug-resistance problem. Here we propose a new ACT, which contains traditional ACT plus iron supplement, so-called ferrous ACT (FACT). The FACT is promising to become a safe and effective new formulation to combat ACT resistance malaria, helping WHO reach its 2030s Malaria Control Goal.