The lead Editorial in this week's Lancet captures the optimism felt over the plans announced by the partnership 'Rolling Back Malaria' to control and eradicate the condition with a comprehensive plan consisting of short, medium, and long-term targets. The plans were announced to a huge fanfare at the high-level UN Millennium Development Goal meeting in New York.
The Editorial says: "The plan lays out three goals to reduce malaria: in the short-term, to reduce mortality and morbidity by half from 2000 levels by scaling up the available methods of prevention and treatment for all those in need by 2010; in the medium term, to reduce the number of malaria deaths to near zero by 2015 through sustained coverage of these tools; and in the long-term, to maintain near zero deaths worldwide, while eliminating malaria transmission in feasible countries and moving towards eradication of malaria with new tools and approaches. The plan is far more comprehensive than previous versions. It provides an evidence-informed approach to deliver effective prevention and treatment to those at risk."
The plan would save an estimated 4.2 million lives in the 20 worst-affected African countries alone. However, a note of caution is sounded about the long-term funding required by the plan - $US 62 billion by 2020; and the Editorial also cautions about the goal of malaria eradication, saying: "One only has to look at the poliomyelitis eradication programme to know in reality that such ambition can turn out to be a great deal more complex. There are dangers in setting the bar too high."
It concludes: "RBM has raised the profile of malaria, taking the disease from being grossly underfunded and largely neglected to being widely recognised as an exemplary investment opportunity in the development agenda. It has achieved this through stronger leadership, better cooperation between its partners, and responding to country needs by improved coordination around their national strategic and implementation plans. During the next decade, RBM has huge challenges. But for the first time, we sense these challenges might be met. The decisions taken in New York last week have created an unprecedented opportunity, one that must be grasped firmly by all parties."
Full Editorial: http://press.thelancet.com/malariaeditfinal.pdf
Journal
The Lancet