The Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Research Division presented key findings from the Vivaction project during the Partnerships for Vivax Elimination (PAVE) East Africa Regional Meeting, held on March 10, 2026, at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa. The high-level meeting brought together national malaria program representatives from Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, and Madagascar, researchers, funders, representatives from the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Program, and partner organizations to review the evidence base for radical cure treatment.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Afework Kassu, Director General of AHRI, welcomed participants and emphasized the importance of strengthening evidence-based malaria policy, the growing challenge of Plasmodium vivax in Ethiopia, and the region. He mentioned the broad research projects AHRI is involved in, playing its part in tackling this challenge. Furthermore, he underlined that the Vivaction project showed operational evidence that G6PD-guided radical cure is safe and effective under the routine care settings with a 14-day course of Primaquine or a 1-day course of Tafenoquine.
At the meeting, AHRI researchers presented findings of the “Operational feasibility of appropriate radical cure with Tafenoquine (TQ) or Primaquine (PQ) after semi-quantitative G6PD testing in Ethiopia: A mixed methods study.” The study was conducted in 12 health facilities across the secondary and primary care tiers in the Gambella and South Ethiopia regional states between September 2024 and November 2025. In the study, 203 health care providers enrolled and managed 2,526 P. vivax or mixed (P. vivax and P. falciparum) malaria cases with a high (93%) compliance with the radical cure algorithm after G6PD testing. The radical cure regimens demonstrated high safety and effectiveness at the 3- and 6-month follow-ups, with no Severe Adverse Events related to either Tafenoquine or Primaquine. The 3- and 6-month follow-ups showed that, with proper training, follow-up, health education, and community engagement, the recurrence rates were 4.2% and 4.3%, respectively, for Tafenoquine and Primaquine.
The built-in social science component demonstrated the importance of working in harmony with the context by embedding stakeholder mapping, analysis, and engagement into the training, implementation, and supportive supervision of the study. Overall, the acceptability of the radical cure by the healthcare providers and patients was high.
Finally, researchers from across Ethiopia presented results on vivax and other relapsing malaria, and the event culminated in a discussion of these studies and a regional exchange of experiences and learning among participating national programs and the WHO.