We’re working on solutions for today and tomorrow

Malaria is one of the oldest diseases known to humans, yet it still kills more than a million kids a year. Why?

Is science failing us? Is it economics? Is the malaria parasite really that clever?

There are few easy answers and many tough challenges—scientific and otherwise. But we believe that malaria can be overcome, and that’s why we’re working the equation from both ends: leading the development of a vaccine that will one day protect every child who is at risk and putting in place malaria control measures that will saves lives today.

Where traditional market forces have not been strong enough to drive the development of a malaria vaccine, we’re providing leverage in the form of human, financial, and technical resources that will make it a reality. Meanwhile, there are things that can be done right now to help control malaria and reduce the toll it takes on individuals, families, and economies in endemic countries. In Zambia, for example, we’re part of a partnership that is scaling up interventions at the national level that have proven successful at the local level.

Malaria kills another child every 30 seconds. Stopping it means acting immediately to spread the use of prevention and control methods—while we keep working on a vaccine to change tomorrow. At PATH, we’re doing whatever we can to stop malaria, and we’ll continue for as long as it takes.

Photo: David Jacobs.