are not always bad news. World Malaria Report 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that the programs implemented since 2008 have served to expand the use of mosquito nets, household insecticides, artemisinin drugs ... In short, to improve control and reduce cases and deaths from this disease.
"The great expansion of access control measures of malaria is being translated directly into lives saved," said Ray Chambers, Special Envoy of UN for this infection. "The proportional increase, which is eroding the impact of malaria, is a critical step in combating threats to the health of the poor. Keeping these goals, we can end malaria deaths by 2015." These
progress is the increase in mosquito nets, which are already present in 42% of households in sub-Saharan and sufficient to protect 76% of the population at risk in this area of \u200b\u200bAfrica. O insecticides, which have gone to meet the needs of 13 million people in 2005 to 75 million in 2009.
DANCE NUMBERS
Following the appeal made in 2008 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the "overwhelming response", as he has described, has estimated that cases 2009 descended to 225 million after the upturn in 2005 (244 million). In terms of deaths, it is estimated that last year were 781,000, noting the steady decline since 2000, when almost reached one million.
However, the information that has produced this report come from 106 countries in which malaria is endemic. Outside Africa, the data are mainly those provided by health centers and hospitals. Thus, cases and deaths that do not pass through these units are not registered.
Some experts say that the figures calculated for India malaria may be underestimated. A few days ago, the magazine Lancet contained a study in which interviews were conducted to the families of 122,000 dead on the course of their disease severity and the presence of fever. Further analysis enabled a range of number of deaths from the disease.
As the authors themselves acknowledged, "even the lower figure far exceeds the WHO estimate of 15,000 annual deaths from malaria in India." According to his calculations, systems of this agency collected only 13% of the victims that causes malaria in one of the most populous countries. This fact could affect the official figures.
MISSING MONEY
As usual, progress achieved will be threatened if the intensity of the shares falls. To avoid this, you need resources. Today, "countries with small populations at risk are receiving more money per person than states with more population," says the report. Therefore, it is important to invest 1,800 million in 2010 dollars for the fight against this disease and to get the 6,000 deemed necessary seems difficult.
"While there is much to celebrate, the data in this report underline the fragility of our progress," said Margaret Chan, WHO Director General. "We can not let this momentum will slow," he adds. And for that, to achieve their goals reached, "the will can not come only from global health leaders and politicians, but of the affected communities," Chan urges.
One of the critical points is increased resistance to the treatment used against the parasite: the artemisinin. Improvements in diagnosis, so that only those suffering from malaria receiving the drug, and the phasing out of the market for artemisinin monotherapies aim to curb this trend as it continues to investigate new treatments and the long-awaited vaccine.
On the horizon, Chan recalls, was "to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015" who claim that the incidence of malaria has started to fall then.
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