Global malaria control tightens

The World Malaria Report 2008, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that though malaria burden still remains enormous, access to malaria control interventions has increased sharply between 2004 and 2006. The report says that recent increases in malaria funding resulted in dramatic reductions in malaria deaths by 50% or more in three of the African countries namely, Eritrea, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe, for the first time.Further, the percentage of children protected by insecticide-treated nets increased almost eightfold, from 3% in 2001 to 23% in the 18 African countries where surveys were held in 2006. Procurement of antimalarial medicines also increased sharply between 2001 and 2006. Indoor spraying of insecticide protected about 100 million people, including 22 million in Africa.Though accelerated access to malaria interventions, increased funding and new approaches to control malaria like artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), have lead to the above-mentioned positive development, it is not yet possible for WHO to judge which countries have adequate resources and further steps need to be taken to lessen this global burden.

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