World Malaria Day - Global Research Needed to Address a Disease without Borders

Statement of B. F. (Lee) Hall, M.D., Ph.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health. "We commemorate the first World Malaria Day on April 25 with new vigor and optimism, gratified that so many of our partners have continued their commitment and others have joined the effort. We applaud increased public awareness of malaria as a global health problem, a renewed commitment to control malaria effectively throughout the world, and ambitious calls for malaria elimination and eventual eradication. In recognition of World Malaria Day, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, released two documents that describe a set of actions—national as well as international—that lay the scientific foundation for continued public health advances in the struggle against malaria. The NIAID Strategic Plan for Malaria Research: Efforts to Accelerate Control and Eradication of Malaria through Biomedical Research (PDF) presents a long-term vision that links progress in malaria control to evolving research needs and priorities. The NIAID Research Agenda for Malaria (PDF - 2MB) identifies specific gaps and opportunities in the research portfolio, defines research priorities and lays out a series of research objectives and activities that address these needs and priorities. The theme of this inaugural World Malaria Day, “A Disease Without Borders,” reflects the worldwide impact of malaria and underscores the increased need for global collaboration. More than 40 percent of the world’s population living in more than 100 countries is at risk of contracting malaria. Although malaria exacts its greatest toll in sub-Saharan Africa, the disease also affects people in many parts of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 300 million to 500 million cases of clinical malaria worldwide occur each year, killing 1.3 million people, most of whom live in developing nations. The vast majority of deaths occur in children under the age of 5 and in pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria also impedes economic growth and development in affected countries. Programs such as the President’s Malaria Initiative, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and many national malaria control programs are reducing the numbers of people who become sick or die from malaria. Nonetheless, we must increase and sustain malaria control efforts, especially if we are ever to achieve our mission to eradicate the disease throughout the world..."

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Contributor: Anuradha Bhattacharjee
Published Date: April 28, 2008