Goal 6: Malaria

Context

• More than a million cases of malaria are fatal each year. Malaria is likely to contribute to another 2 million deaths yearly. Estimates of the number of acute malaria cases range up to 500 million.
• 80% of malaria deaths are among young children living in sub-Saharan Africa, with under-five mortality from malaria in 2002 estimated at more than 900 000 deaths.
• Almost 60% of all malarial deaths are concentrated in the poorest 20% of the world’s population.
• Malaria has the highest association of any disease with poverty.

WHO's work

The Roll Back Malaria project was initiated in 1998 with the goal of halving the number of malaria cases by 2010. The project led to the establishment of the Roll Back Malaria partnership and clarification of roles and responsibilities between WHO and the partnership in malaria control.

The Abuja Declaration on Roll Back Malaria set the deadline to achieve at least 60% coverage with the main malaria-control interventions in Africa by the year 2005. Over the past few years, progress towards these targets has been rapid.

WHO’s work in the malaria area works to: facilitate access of populations at risk to effective treatment of malaria; promote the application of preventive measures against malaria for populations at risk; build capacity for malaria control; strengthen malaria-surveillance systems, and the monitoring and evaluation of control.

Future directions

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria allocated more than US$ 942 million to malaria control on a five-year basis in its first three rounds of grant-making. This increased funding has provided a major opportunity for WHO and the Roll Back Malaria partnership to strengthen support for capacity development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

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