End Malaria for Good
April 25, 2016 – We have much to celebrate in the fight against malaria. The WHO(1) estimates that more than 6.2 million malaria deaths were averted worldwide between 2000 and 2015. Most of these estimated lives saved were among children under age 5 living in sub-Saharan Africa – the most vulnerable age group at risk for malaria. The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative in its newly released 10th Annual Report to Congress(2) states that “the investments in malaria prevention and control have been among the best investments in global health and development, resulting in a dramatic decrease in malaria deaths and illness.”
Progress is rightly celebrated. At the same time, we are aware of the immediate and potential challenges that remain. The global community cannot rest until the job is done. The WHO estimated that there were 214 million new cases of malaria in 2015, resulting in 438,000 deaths. Compounding this, emerging drug and insecticide resistance is a very real threat to the progress we’ve made.
Many of the Society’s members are highly engaged with the global malaria fight: researching vaccines, testing new treatment approaches and identifying novel threats.
“On this World Malaria Day, we pay tribute to their personal commitment and accomplishments. With a strong and continued U.S. investment in malaria R&D, together we will succeed in the goal of eradicating malaria for good: Malaria Delenda Est.” - ASTMH President Stephen Higgs, PhD, FRES, FASTMH
ASTMH asked some of its key leaders in the malaria community for their personal perspectives on malaria. Read interviews from:
- Past President Christopher V. Plowe, MD, MPH, FASTMH
- Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer of the President's Malaria Initiative
- Philip Rosenthal, MD, FASTMH, Editor-in-Chief of American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Councilors Nicole Achee, PhD, Laurence Slutsker, MD, MPH, FASTMH, David A. Fidock, PhD, and Richard Fairhurst, MD, PhD, FASTMH
- Stephanie Yanow, PhD, Assistant Scientific Program Chair
- Capt. Judith E. Epstein, MD, of the Naval Medical Research Center
- Col. Robert M. Paris of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
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The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, founded in 1903, is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. We accomplish this through generating and sharing scientific evidence, informing health policies and practices, fostering career development, recognizing excellence, and advocating for investment in tropical medicine/global health research. For more information, visit astmh.org [ http://www.astmh.org?utm_source=ASTMH%2DInformz&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=default ] .
(1)
World Malaria Report, 2015, World Health Organization
(2)President’s Malaria Initiative,
A Decade of Progress, 10th Annual Report to Congress, April 2016