Media availability: The role of biomedical research in malaria eradication
Although malaria has been controlled in many local and regional populations, the permanent elimination of malaria parasites throughout the world remains an elusive goal, and the disease continues to claim nearly one million lives each year. In 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates called for a renewed effort to eradicate malaria worldwide. Some sceptics have questioned the feasibility of doing so because of failed attempts to eradicate malaria in the 20th century. In a new commentary, National Institutes of Health scientists B. Fenton Hall, M.D., Ph.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), discuss the lessons learned from past attempts to eradicate malaria and identify key challenges to achieving success today...