Malaria is an infection caused by a parasite that is transmitted from person to person by mosquitoes. Although it can be prevented and treated, this killer-disease still claims the lives of over one million people a year mainly in tropical and subtropical regions where the disease is widespread, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of these deaths are young children living in Africa, especially those under the age of five.

Mankind has been waging a war against malaria for nearly a decade now, yet the war seems to be far from over.

According to a recent WHO report, malaria accounts for one in five of all childhood deaths in Africa. Often, malaria results in related conditions such as anaemia, low birth-weight, epilepsy and neurological problems that millions of children throughout the tropical world are too weak or ill-equipped to face. The sad part is, as the WHO notes, "much of the impact of malaria on the world’s children could be prevented with currently available interventions."

It is no coincidence that malaria takes more lives in poor tropical locales such as in sub-Saharan Africa, where medical facilities are scarce and health care and sanitation infrastructures leave much to be desired. The sub-Saharan Africa region accounts for a stunning 85-90% of malaria fatalities worldwide. It is difficult to determine accurately just how many people malaria claims a year because many deaths occur in rural areas and are documented. Some estimates peg the number of malaria deaths at approximately 1.3 to 3 million every year and infections among humans at 350-500 million a year. Other places with high malaria death rates are the northern part of South America as well as South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Unlike dengue, which is more common in urban venues, malaria is more prevalent in rural areas rather than in urban areas. This is evident in places like the Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka where the cities are virtually malaria-free, but where rural areas are not. In contrast, there are places where malaria is country-wide such as West Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, but the risk is still higher in rural areas than in the cities.

Malaria is widely regarded as a disease of poverty. There is clearly a higher incidence of malaria in poorer countries than in wealthy countries. For example, a comparison of average per capita GDP in 1995 between malarious and non-malarious countries showed a five-fold difference (US$1,526 versus US$8,268) in GDP. In addition, the growth rate of average per capita GDP is lower in malaria-stricken countries than in other countries: 0.4% vs. 2.4% per year (between 1965 and 1990). In its entirety, the economic impact of malaria has been estimated to cost Africa US$12 billion every year in lost GDP.

The main battleground for the war against malaria is clearly in Africa, where poverty is widespread and where the disease is a daily reality. Malaria's impact on Africa is not only palpable in the number of lives lost but also in preventing any true economic development. Economists estimate that malaria is responsible for a growth penalty of up to 1.3% per year in some African countries and this adversely affects the entire continent. In addition, malaria also results into lost productivity due to illness and premature death and hampers children's schooling and social development.

WHO's efforts to fight malaria in Africa were given a boost by the founding of the Roll Back Malaria global partnership in 1998. Less than two years later African Heads of State and their representatives met in Abuja, Nigeria to translate RBM's goal of halving the malaria burden by 2010 into tangible political action. The Abuja Declaration, signed in April 2000 endorsed a concerted strategy to tackle the problem of malaria across Africa. The Abuja Declaration endorsed RBM's goal and established a series of interim targets for

Since then, almost 20 African countries have reduced or eliminated taxes and tariffs on insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to make them more affordable. Most malaria-stricken African countries have formulated their own Country Strategic Plans aligned with the objectives set in Abuja.