Drug-resistant malaria will spread without urgent action, experts warn

Dismay at south-east Asian outbreaks of malaria resistant to artemisinin drugs, the most powerful drugs currently available

Urgent action must be taken to stop the spread of drug-resistant malaria in south-east Asia and potentially beyond, according to scientists.

The outbreak in Cambodia, then Thailand, Laos and most recently Vietnam, of malaria that is untreatable with the newest and best drugs we have has alarmed experts. There have been calls for the World Health Organisation to declare a public health emergency of international concern, as it did with Ebola in west Africa and Zika virus in Brazil.