Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable, and necessary
Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable, and necessary
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, MalariaR. G. A. Feachem, I. Chen, O. Akbari, A. Bertozzi-Villa, S. Bhatt, F. Binka, M. F. Boni, C. Buckee, J. Dieleman, A. Dondorp, A. Eapen, N. Sekhri Feachem, S. Filler, P. Gething, R. Gosling, A. Haakenstad, K. Harvard, A. Hatefi, D. Jamison, K. E. Jones, C., Lancet, 394:1056-1112. 2019.
50 years after a noble but flawed attempt to eradicate malaria in the mid-20th century, the global malaria community is once again seriously considering eradication. Momentum towards eradication has been building for decades, and more than half of the world’s countries are now malaria free. Since 2000, a surge of global progress has occurred, facilitated by the roll-out of new technologies and the substantial growth in political and financial commitment by countries, regions, and their global partners. Annual 2000 to domestic $4·3 billion and in international spending on malaria increased from roughly US$1·5 billion in 2016. Simultaneously, the number of countries with endemic malaria dropped from 106 to 86, the worldwide annual incidence rate of malaria declined by 36%, and the annual death rate declined by 60%.
Inspired by these outstanding achievements, and troubled by a stagnation in progress that saw 55 countries report an increase in cases between 2015 and 2017, the Lancet Commission on Malaria Eradication (the Commission) was convened to consider whether malaria eradication is feasible, affordable, and worthwhile. In this report of the Commission, we synthesise existing evidence and new epidemiological and financial analyses to show that malaria eradication by 2050 is a bold but attainable goal, and a necessary one given the neverending struggle against drug and insecticide resistance and the social and economic costs associated with a failure to eradicate.
