Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2026 to Question 2672, what steps his Department plans to take on conclusion of the study on the impact of anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis on functional effectiveness of military personnel (713/MODREC/15) once that study has been published.

The study entitled; Impact of anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis on functional effectiveness of military personnel (713/MODREC/15) was initiated in 2015 by a now-retired Defence Public Health Consultant. The work sought to collect data around the impact of anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis on the functional effectiveness of military personnel. Data was collected from two British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) battlegroups between 2017-18 in the form of questionnaires and was stored for subsequent analysis.

Retirement of the lead investigator without appointment of a replacement meant that the data remained unanalysed. A team of public health specialists supported by Defence Statistics undertook a re-analysis of the original dataset and determined that the study had not generated evidence of sufficient certainty to warrant recommendations to change policy or clinical practice around the choice of antimalarial. The relative lack of substantive findings from the reanalysis meant that while the work was reported internally as part of a general review of malaria policy to ensure compliance with earlier HCDC Direction, peer reviewed publication was not prioritised.

A separate service evaluation of Defence Primary Healthcare electronic patient records is currently being undertaken based on malaria notifications between January 2016 and January 2026. The work builds on 713/MODREC/15 and aims to provide a more contemporaneous picture of the impact of malaria on UK Armed Forces and the role of force health protection measures, including malaria chemoprophylaxis. Subject to further work, the department will aim to submit the results of 713/MODREC/15 for publication in a peer reviewed journal in 2027. Further, the intent is to publish the service evaluation in a peer reviewed journal as a follow up to publication of the results from 713/MODREC/15.