Where are we in the long and bruising fight against malaria?
That is the question many of us will be asking today as we mark
World Malaria Day. The World Health Organisation (WHO) which
instituted the day in 2007 as a way of keeping track of the
scourge, says the world is today at a decisive juncture.
“Whether the malaria map will keep shrinking, as it has in the
past decade, or be reclaimed by the malaria parasites, depends,
to a great extent, on the resources that will be invested in
control efforts over the next years,” says the organisation. It
is about: "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria", a
theme aimed at ensuring that the world maintains the tempo in
the fight against the killer disease to its logical conclusion.
For the fight is directly linked to the global effort for
development as WHO points out: “Sustaining malaria control
efforts is an investment in development. Continued investment in
malaria control now will propel malaria-endemic countries toward
near-zero deaths by 2015 and achievi