A new international research project has set out to improve treatment for children suffering from severe malaria and bacterial bloodstream infections. The FACT project is developing and testing an innovative antibiotic-based combination therapy designed to address both potentially life-threatening conditions at the same time.
Malaria remains a major global health challenge, causing around 600,000 deaths each year, with children in sub-Saharan Africa particularly affected. Treating severe cases can be especially challenging because symptoms of malaria and bacterial bloodstream infections can be very similar – and children may suffer from both conditions simultaneously.
Connecting expertise across Europe and Africa
FACT seeks to address this challenge through a novel triple combination therapy bringing together artesunate, fosmidomycin and clindamycin. By combining medicines that act in different ways against malaria parasites and bacteria, the approach aims to improve treatment outcomes while helping to reduce the risk of drug resistance. It could also shorten hospital stays for affected children from up to six days to four days.
The project brings together partners from Europe and Africa in a close international collaboration, combining expertise from research institutions and organisations in Germany, Austria, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Ethiopia. Coordinated by the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Germany, with scientific leadership from CERMEL in Gabon, the consortium reflects the strong European–African partnership at the heart of the project.
FACT complements our HEALTH ecosystem portfolio with another international research collaboration addressing major global health challenges and further strengthens our involvement in projects supported through Global Health EDCTP3. Working closely with project coordinator BNITM and scientific coordinator CERMEL, the EURICE team contributes to effective management structures and collaborative workflows across the consortium, helping to translate the project’s ambitious research plan into coordinated action and create the conditions for lasting impact.
Ultimately, FACT aims to contribute to a safer and more effective way of treating severely ill children in malaria-endemic countries by addressing two potentially life-threatening causes of illness at the same time.
Read more about the project here.