Despite the major public health effect of the scale-up of available control measures, malaria remains the largest single cause of child mortality in many settings in Africa. 1 More than 3 billion people remain at risk of malaria, and roughly 1800 people die of it each day, 2 with children and women from poor communities being most affected. Although continued innovations in diagnostic testing, antimalarial drugs, and vector control measures are likely to have an important role in accelerating progress, malaria vaccines also have great potential to contribute to defeating malaria—if they can be successfully developed.

The malaria vaccine technology roadmap was initially published in 2006. On Nov 14, 2013, WHO publishes the first comprehensive update to this global strategic research and development roadmap. It is the result of extensive consultations with scientists and public health experts from non-endemic and malaria-endemic countries, industry, non-governmental organisations, and funding agencies. The updated roadmap was reviewed and endorsed by WHO advisory committees for immunisation and malaria. 3, 4