Abstract

Introduction

Malaria remains a major public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, with substantial morbidity and mortality despite decades of intervention. While considerable research has advanced antimalarial drug development and treatment strategies, the integration of personalized medicine leveraging genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and epigenomics to tailor therapies remains underexplored. In contrast to oncology and other infectious diseases, personalized malaria therapy has not been systematically characterised.

Methods

This study employed a bibliometric analysis of online scholarly outputs to assess the scope of personalized medicine in malaria therapy. Articles were retrieved over a six-month period using Google Scholar, with automated keyword tracking and descriptive review applied for screening. Publications were classified by thematic direction and geographic origin, with multi-country contributions counted separately for each nation.

Results

A total of 462 articles were reviewed. Of these, 9 (~2%) directly addressed personalized antimalarial approaches, 18 (~4%) explored personalized antimalarial concepts indirectly, and 435 (94%) focused on general malaria therapy. Findings indicate that while malaria therapy research is abundant, personalized approaches remain scarce and fragmented. Regional analysis yielded 25 country contributions: 13(52%) from malaria endemic countries and 12 (48%) non endemic regions. A country wide economy analysis revealed the number of low-income countries that produced publications as 3, as opposed to 9 high and 13 middle-income countries (both lower-middle and upper-middle income) based on the World Bank classifications. This distribution shows that the high-income countries still dominate precision- and genomics-based malaria research, but low-income countries have a minimal influence on the picture.

Conclusion

This analysis highlights a critical gap in malaria research. Despite modest progress from endemic regions, personalized antimalarial therapy has yet to be integrated into mainstream malaria research. Bridging this gap could improve drug efficacy, reduce resistance, and align malaria control strategies with global precision medicine efforts. Expanded research and investment are urgently required to consolidate emerging gains and ensure equitable advancement in personalized malaria therapy.