World Malaria Day 2012

Working Together

"We need a fully-resourced Global Fund, new donors, and endemic countries to join forces and address the vast challenges that lie ahead. Millions of bed nets will need replacement in the coming years, and the goal of universal access to diagnostic testing and effective treatment must be realized. We need to act with urgency and resolve to ensure that no-one dies from malaria for lack of a 5 dollar bed net, 1 dollar antimalarial drug and a 50 cent diagnostic test."
Dr. Robert Newman, Director of WHO's Global Malaria Programme

According to the World Health Organization, in 2010, malaria caused an estimated 216 million illnesses and 655,000 deaths, mostly children under 5 years in Africa. These numbers represent a 17% decrease in malaria cases and a 25% reduction in deaths worldwide since 2000.

In the early 2000's, funding for malaria efforts in Africa began to increase dramatically. These unprecedented resources have led to a massive scale-up of lifesaving malaria prevention and control interventions, with hundreds of thousands of people receiving insecticide-treated bed nets and effective medicines to treat malaria. These simple, inexpensive interventions have been able to reduce malaria's burden by as much as 50% in some countries.

Malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted by a female Anopheles mosquito. It can cause severe illness, dangerously small newborns, permanent disability, and death. Malaria is a disease of poverty. Direct costs from malaria are at least US$ 12 billion per year, with substantially greater losses in economic growth and human potential.

Sustain gains, Save lives

World Malaria Day is commemorated each April 25, and it provides an opportunity to reflect on the status of global efforts to "roll back malaria." This year's theme, "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria," is a reminder of the recent successes in saving lives and a call to continue malaria prevention and control efforts so that these gains will not be reversed.

CDC's Contributions

Photograph courtesy of Maggie Hallahan Photography

CDC, which began in 1946 as an agency to control malaria in the U.S., has become a leader in global malaria efforts. The President's Malaria Initiative, led by the U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator, jointly conducted by the U.S. Agency for International Development and CDC in 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and in one region in Asia, has greatly contributed to the decreased malaria burden.

In the last 20 years, CDC has helped develop and test the tools that make up the effective intervention package now being used in global efforts worldwide: insecticide-treated bed nets and house-spraying to protect families from mosquitoes, accurate diagnostic tests and high-quality effective drugs, and treatment for pregnant women so that they are protected and their babies are born healthy.

New treatment medicines, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and mosquito control products may soon be available, and CDC has begun to develop effective strategies for using and evaluating them, making sure we invest wisely. We are also boosting our efforts to monitor and evaluate approaches to resistance to drugs and insecticides, as well as investigating new ways to collect the strategic information needed to track progress in the fight against malaria.

Malaria in the U.S.

In the U.S, malaria was eliminated by the early 1950s, but about 1,500 travelers returning to the U.S. each year bring back "imported malaria." If travelers will be visiting an area with malaria transmission, they should be sure to take precautions.

More Information

CDC works 24/7 saving lives and protecting people from health threats to have a more secure nation. A US federal agency, CDC helps make the healthy choice the easy choice by putting science and prevention into action. CDC works to help people live longer, healthier and more productive lives.