Malaria Control (WHO-DOCS 6)
Malaria is one of the three leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing world,
particularly in tropical Africa, and the single outstanding tropical disease control priority.
The Burden of Malaria:
- About 40% of the world's population at risk in some 90 countries or territories
- 1.5 - 2.7 million deaths per year, the great majority of them in Africa
- 300 - 500 million clinical cases per year,
- Approx. 1 million deaths among children < 5 years of age can be attributed to malaria
alone or in combination with other diseases
- Malaria exacts an enormous toll in lives, in medical costs, and in days of labour lost,
especially during the agricultural season
- Growing number of cases of severe malaria, complicated by the spread of drug
resistance,
- Growing number of epidemic situations linked with war, movements of people, and
degrading environments.
Yet, malaria is a curable disease and to a great extent a controllable one, not an inevitable
burden.
Control Strategy:
A Global Malaria Control Strategy was adopted in 1992 by the Ministerial Conference on Malaria
in Amsterdam and, plans of action for its implementation were updated in 1995. In 1994, the
United Nations General Assembly invited WHO, as the lead agency in this field, to promote
international mobilization of technical, medical and financial assistance to intensify the
struggle against malaria.
Control Priorities:
- Development of global and regional goals and strategies
- provision of guidelines and standards
- technical assistance to countries
- development of training programmes
- promoting needed field and operational research
- mobilizing intersectoral collaboration and national political will
- support to 46 malarious countries in Africa, and other endemic countries in the
world
- strengthening national capacity to diagnose and treat malaria, to use preventive
approaches wherever they are sustainable and cost-effective, and for epidemic preparedness
and control,
- training national manpower to meet programme needs
- mobilizing sustainable international commitment for long-term malaria control
Targets:
The overall goal for malaria control is the prevention of mortality and the reduction in
morbidity and social and economic loss due to malaria, through the progressive improvement and
strengthening of local and national capabilities for malaria control at national, district and
community levels. Within this goal, two main objectives have been set: that by the year 1997
at least 90% of countries affected by malaria implement appropriate malaria control
programmes; that by the year 2000 malaria mortality has been reduced by at least 20% compared
to 1995 in at least 75% of affected countries.
Global Resources Needed:
Globally, malaria control requires an additional contribution from bilateral and multilateral
sources of US$ 60 million per year, including US$ 26 million for Africa alone. In 1994-95, WHO
budgeted over US$ 20 million for its malaria control programme. Nearly 75% of this budget is
for support to the developing countries. Additional funding is critically needed to build on
the national momentum for control that has now been generated.
For further information concerning control strategies for tropical diseases, please contact
Dr Kazem Behbehani , Director of the Division of Control of Tropical Diseases, CTD, WHO,
Geneva, Telephone: +41 22 791 38 26, Fax: + 41 22 791 47 77. For further information on
malaria control, please contact Dr Anatoly Kondrachine , Chief of the Malaria Unit, CTD,
Telephone: + 41 22 791 37 41.
This page was created by Arnaud Bresson, bresson@hei.unige.ch, under the supervision of Dr.
Isabelle Nuttall , MD, DPH, nuttalli@who.ch on August 8,
1995.
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