News on Malaria
Source: WHO, EIP Discussion paper 36, 2000
New! Global Strategic Plan, Roll Back Malaria 2005-2015
This document sets out the key elements of the RBM Partnership Global Strategic Plan for 2005 to 2015. The purpose of this document is a call to action and a practical guide to those involved or interested in becoming involved in implementing, supporting or monitoring progress. It outlines how partners can contribute to achieving global and national goals for malaria control. In addition, this document illustrates the benefits of working in partnership and shows how this approach can help to bring about the ambitious goals of the RBM movement.
New! Malaria Research & Development. An Assessment of Global Investment
This report from the Malaria Researc and Development Alliance Malaria presents an assessment of the global investment in Malaria. Detailed financial information relating to disbursement of funds for malaria R&D wascollected from approximately 80 organizations through an online survey. The presumed largest global funders of malaria R&D, a total of 14, completed the survey; the aggregate response rate from the 50 contributors believed to invest at least one million dollars annually in malaria R&D was 92%.
New! Global strategic plan 2005-2015: Roll Back Malaria
This document sets out the key elements of the RBM Partnership Global Strategic Plan for 2005 to 2015. It builds on the report entitled: Scaling-up for sustained impact: Roll Back Malaria strategic orientations 2004-2008, January 2004 issued by the RBM Partnership, and also builds on consensus statements on scaling-up strategies. The purpose of the document is a call to action and a practical guide to those involved or interested in becoming involved in implementing, supporting or monitoring progress. It outlines how partners can contribute to achieving global and national goals for malaria control. In addition, the document illustrates the benefits of working in partnership and shows how this approach can help to bring about the ambitious goals of the RBM movement.
The Strategic Framework reviews some of the generic issues frequently encountered in sub-Saharan Africa during the integration of public and commercial sector activities. This framework offers suggestions and guidance as to how the various partners can better understand their different roles in the overall process, how they can help and avoid hindering the efforts of other partners, and how they can work together in a constructive and complementary fashion. Finally, it highlights the complexity of the strategic issues involved and that careful thought must be given to the design of sustainable national programmes.
Malaria and HIV interactions and their implications for public health policy
The WHO report "Malaria and HIV interactions" focuses on the different interactions between malaria and HIV, which is most apparent in areas with generalized HIV epidemics and stable malaria. The evidence of interaction is still scarce and more research on the subject is strongly recommended in the report. Studies do, however, indicate an important interaction between malaria and HIV in relation to pregnant women, thus evidence suggests that HIV infection impairs the ability of pregnant women to control P.falciparum infection, and it is estimated that in 2003 in sub-Saharan Africa at least 440.000 women had malaria infection during pregnancy attributable to HIV. Evidence also suggests that the presence of HIV results in a poorer response to both prophylaxis and treatment of malaria during pregnancy.
The World Malaria Report 2005 is the first comprehensive effort by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to take stock of where the world stands in relation to one of its most devastating diseases - malaria. The report reveals that the tide may be beginning to turn against malaria as control and prevention programmes start to take effect. The goal of the RBM Partnership is to halve the burden of malaria in endemic countries by 2010. This report shows progress in scaling up antimalarial interventions in many countries. In Africa, several countries will reach at least some of the targets set by African heads of state in Abuja in 2000. It is clear, however, that there is much work to be done. Over 3 billion people globally live under the threat of malaria and more than one million die each year due to malaria – most of them being children.
Click here for the full report
Task force report: Coming to grips with malaria in the new millennium
This task force report is a part of the UN Millennium Project. The report proposes an operational framework for scaling up integrated packages of effective antimalarial interventions with the aim of improving health nationally while also promoting economic development locally—an emphasis that is echoed in Investing in Development. An integral part of this framework is building stronger national health systems as a platform for delivering essential antimalarial and other health commodities and services. The report highlights the importance of free provision of insecticide-treated bednets, application of residual insecticides, and provision of effective antimalarial medicines and diagnostics to those at risk of malaria. Adequate information systems for health and effective management skills at all levels of the health system are paramount to effectively allocating resources, monitoring program performance, and evaluating the extent to which the health-related Millennium Development Goals are realized.
This nature article provides an empirical approach to estimating the number of clinical events caused by Plasmodium falciparum worldwide, by using a combination of epidemiological, geographical and demographic data. The authors estimate that there were 515 (range 300–660) million episodes of clinical P. falciparum malaria in 2002. These global estimates are up to 50% higher than those reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and 200% higher for areas outside Africa, reflecting the WHO's reliance upon passive national reporting for these countries. Without an informed understanding of the cartography of malaria risk, the global extent of clinical disease caused by P. falciparum will continue to be underestimated.