Mass Drug Administration (MDA)

This is an active Deep Dive and we welcome your contributions! If you are currently involved or planning research activities on Mass drug administration (MDA) please contact MESA (mesa@isglobal.org) or add your project to the database.

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Mass Drug Administration (MDA), defined by WHO as the administration of antimalarial treatment to all age groups of a defined population or every person living in a defined geographical area (except those for whom the medicine is contraindicated) at approximately the same time and often at repeated intervals [ref], has been historically a key component of malaria control and elimination strategies.

In 2015, WHO published recommendations for the use of MDA, mass screening and treatment and focal screening and treatment for malaria [ref]. In the years following the publication of these recommendations and after the release of a practical field manual of MDA for P. falciparum [ref], new studies have been conducted and novel field experience is being acquired. Therefore, WHO convened a meeting to revise and refine the current recommendations for the use of MDA, focusing on its role on decreasing transmission and accelerating progress towards elimination [ref].

With the aim of facilitating the discussions at the Evidence Review Group (ERG) on MDA for malaria held in September 2018 [ref], this deep dive compiles the landscape of recent and ongoing research in antimalarial MDA and provides an overview of the projects’ main characteristics.