Artemisinin resistance in Africa: How urgent is the threat?

Malaria is unrelenting in its impact on sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 215 million cases and 384,000 deaths in 2019, mostly in young children. Although devastating, this situation represents a halving in incidence and mortality compared to the early 2000s, associated with continent-wide implementation of effective artemisinin (ART)-based combination therapies (ACTs) and enhanced mosquito vector control measures. Now, however, clinically confirmed ART resistance has emerged in Rwanda and northern Uganda.