Malaria Consortium
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) — preventive medicine for children under 5
Our editorial assessment
Malaria Consortium's seasonal malaria chemoprevention program may be the single most cost-effective way to save a child's life that exists today. At roughly $3,500 per life saved, it outperforms nearly every other health intervention on a cost-per-outcome basis. What makes this programme remarkable is its simplicity: community health workers deliver a short course of antimalarial drugs to children under five during peak transmission season. The evidence base is rock-solid — multiple randomised controlled trials show SMC reduces malaria cases by over 70% in treated populations. GiveWell has directed tens of millions to this programme, and for good reason.
The problem they're solving
In the Sahel region of West Africa, malaria transmission is heavily seasonal — concentrated in the four-month rainy season. By delivering preventive medicine during exactly this window, SMC stops infections before they start. This is cheaper and more effective than treating malaria after the fact, and the logistical model scales well through existing community health infrastructure.
About Malaria Consortium
Malaria Consortium delivers preventive antimalarial medicine to children during the four highest-risk months of the year.
Where your dollar goes
What your donation could do
Your $100 ≈ 14 children protected for a full malaria season
Illustrative estimate based on figures this organisation publishes about its own programs — not a statement from the charity itself. Actual impact varies by program and year.
What donors say about Malaria Consortium
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How this score was produced
The Charity Ranking score is our own editorial assessment, produced with a weighted rubric covering program spending, transparency and governance, evidence of impact, cost-effectiveness, and leadership. It draws on publicly available reports from independent evaluators such as GiveWell, Charity Navigator, and CharityWatch, but it is not a rating issued or endorsed by any of those organisations. The community rating shown above is a separate signal contributed by signed-in donors; it is displayed alongside our criteria but never feeds into the editorial score. Read the full methodology →