Raising the bar to halt malaria

New evidence demonstrates that rapid, large-scale malaria control is working. Zambia has been modeling the way with an aggressive national scale-up of proven interventions. Now results from a 2008 study show that the efforts are working, bringing health to families in Zambia and hope to communities throughout Africa, devastated by malaria for far too long.

The challenge

Mosquito nets, insecticide, and medication for preventing and treating malaria: these are among the simple things that can save the more than 2,300 people who die from the disease every day.

The challenge for African nations is to marshal the financial and human resources and the political will to control malaria on a large scale. The Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA) at PATH, the Government of Zambia, and other partners are working to meet the challenge—and setting the standard for getting comprehensive malaria control interventions to all African communities.

Malaria control is possible

Malaria strikes 250 million people a year and kills more than 850 thousand—mostly in children younger than five in sub-Saharan Africa. But it doesn’t have to take so many young and promising lives.

The mosquito that transmits the malaria parasite is active at night, and sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net effectively protects both children and pregnant women, the two groups who are at most risk of severe sickness or death. Strategically spraying insecticide on the walls of homes where mosquito nets aren’t used can further keep mosquitoes at bay. Providing preventive medicine to pregnant women and promptly treating those who get malaria with the right medications can save many more lives.

A powerful partnership

Making proven malaria prevention and treatment methods available on a national scale to the people who need them most requires commitment, coordination, and leadership. Since 2005, MACEPA has partnered with the Government of Zambia—one of the poorest countries in Africa, where malaria causes about 20 percent of child deaths—to demonstrate that malaria can be controlled. Other partners in this effort include the Roll Back Malaria Partnership Secretariat; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; the US President’s Malaria Initiative; and the World Bank.

It’s working!

Zambia’s 2008 Malaria Indicator Survey has provided conclusive evidence that the country’s efforts are directly improving the health of the people—decreasing cases of anemia in children under age five by nearly 70 percent and reducing the number of children infected with the malaria parasite by half! A study recently released by WHO demonstrated that malaria deaths reported from health facilities in Zambia have declined by 66 percent, meaning that the country has reached the 2010 Roll Back Malaria target of a more than 50 percent reduction in malaria mortality compared to 2000.

Through committed leadership; a strong, united partnership; and innovative approaches; Zambia has become a global leader in malaria control—and is making excellent progress toward its vision of a malaria-free Zambia.

Read more about progress in Zambia.

Single steps make the journey

African countries are rising to the challenge by using malaria control strategies that have worked locally, scaling them up, and making them work at a national level. MACEPA’s central contributions are supporting governments in mobilizing partners, planning and carrying out technical aspects of their national plans, and facilitating learning among countries. Together we are reducing illness and death from malaria and setting new standards for malaria control in Africa.

Photos (from top): David Jacobs, PATH.