Eradicating malaria a tall order
Public health analysts expressed doubt Monday (April 25) that eradicating malaria is an attainable goal, saying the difficulty of doing so may put that out of reach despite the global effort now under way. The discussion during a roundtable event at the Barker Center was held to mark the fourth World Malaria Day, which commemorates the worldwide movement to distribute bed nets, improve access to testing and treatment, and engage local governments in eliminating malaria. Global anti-malaria efforts have ramped up considerably in recent years. A call by philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates in 2007 set eradication as a target and generated a lot of excitement in the field. Today, there are several major anti-malaria efforts, including that of the Gates Foundation, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. The Roll Back Malaria Partnership unveiled its Global Malaria Action Plan in 2008, with a...