Partners Turn the Tide Against Malaria

Photo taken by Maggie Hallahan

Global health partners have made enormous progress reaching more people than ever with life-saving malaria interventions and reducing malaria deaths worldwide.

Malaria has been a major cause of illness and death globally for more than 4,000 years. CDC and partners are changing that by working together to reach millions with life-saving prevention and treatment interventions.

Through efforts of the Global Fund, the President's Malaria Initiative , endemic countries and other partners under the Roll Back Malaria partnerships, massive scale-up of malaria interventions has saved more than 4.2 million lives since 2000. Globally, deaths have fallen by 47% and in sub-Saharan Africa, by 54%. Between 2000 and 2013, expanded malaria interventions helped reduce the incidence of malaria by 30% globally and by 34% in Africa.

Although the impact has been dramatic, approximately 584,000 people died of malaria in 2013, most of them young children in Africa, where malaria burden is highest.

"Elimination of malaria transmission in Haiti, coupled with eliminating the few remaining cases in the Dominican Republic, will create a malaria-free zone across the Caribbean. This will be an historic public health milestone for the Western Hemisphere, and will greatly reduce the risk of reintroduction of malaria to nearby countries where it's already been eliminated." – Larry Slutsker, MD, MPH; Director, CDC Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria

What CDC Is Doing

CDC began in 1946 as an agency to control malaria in the United States and continues to provide leadership and expertise in global malaria control activities.

In the last 20 years, CDC has developed and tested the tools that make up the effective intervention package now being used in global efforts worldwide including:

Insecticide-treated bed nets and house spraying to protect families from mosquitoes
Accurate diagnostic tests and high-quality effective drugs
Treatment for pregnant women so that they are protected and their babies are born healthy

CDC also co-implements the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)[1.8 MB], jointly with the U.S. Agency for International Development, in 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Greater Mekong Subregion in Asia, helping to scale up evidence-based interventions.

Earlier this year, CDC began leading a consortium of malaria partners aiming to eliminate indigenous cases of malaria on the island of Hispaniola by 2020. The consortium, called the Haiti Malaria Elimination Consortium (HaMEC), is made possible by an initial $29.9 million grant to the CDC Foundation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Recent progress in reducing the human suffering caused by malaria has shown us that, with adequate investments and the right mix of strategies, we can indeed make remarkable strides against this complicated enemy. We should act with urgency and resolve, and remain focused on our shared goal: to create a world in which no one dies of malaria, a world entirely clear of this scourge." – Margaret Chan, MD; Director-General, World Health Organization

Changing Malaria Landscape Brings New Challenges

Now with changes in the malaria landscape as a result of intervention scale-up and emerging drug and insecticide resistance, CDC is looking at the tools[2.3 MB] we are currently using to maximize their effectiveness. CDC is also developing new tools: new treatment medicines, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and mosquito control methods. CDC has begun to develop effective strategies for using and evaluating them. By testing these tools, CDC ensures we invest wisely in the resources to fight malaria that will have the most success. 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 United States

Malaria was eliminated in the United States by the early 1950s, but on average about 1,500 travelers returning to the United States each year bring back "imported malaria." If travelers will be visiting an area with malaria transmission, they should be sure to take precautions to prevent the disease.