Speakers included Dr. Kent Campbell, director of PATH’s Malaria Control Program and chair of the ASTMH Advocacy and Policy Committee and Dr. Alan Magill, director of Experimental Therapeutics at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and chair of Clinical Groups at ASTMH.

Experts at the Capitol Hill briefing called for further funding for research into vaccines that could ultimately block malaria infection. Currently, hope hangs on RTS,S, the world’s most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate which is now in Phase III testing. The trial will involve as many as 16,000 young children and infants and is underway at sites in seven African countries, including three sites in Kenya. 

Drug resistance has become a serious concern in the malaria community and the need for new tools to defeat malaria is great.  Hopefully, Congress will continue to demonstrate the United State’s leadership in this crucial area. 

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