Malaria can be eliminated in Africa - Malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa, can be eliminated from the continent, experts said in the October 2011 issue of The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, published Wednesday. Kent Campbell and Rick Steketee of PATH Malaria Control Programme argue that by ending the transmission of the disease with tools available today, including long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying, diagnostics, effective antimalarial medicines and a focused strategy that evolves as progress advances, malaria can be eliminated in Africa.

In a commentary, published in advance of a major international forum on malaria elimination, the experts pointed out that evidence documented by national malaria control programmes across Africa showed elimination was achievable. 

“An increasing number of African countries are using malaria control tools, which are proving to be a powerful, life-saving arsenal,” said Campbell, director of PATH’s Malaria Control Programme.

“The death of more than a million children have been prevented in Africa in the last decade and a growing number of African countries are forging ahead on the path to elimination. Elimination is the only acceptable end to the fight against malaria. We cannot settle for anything less,' he said.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 2011 Malaria Forum on Optimism and Urgency will be held 17–19 October in Seattle, Washington, and will bring together the global malaria community to assess progress and next steps in the global fight to stop malaria.

On 17 October, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) will release its latest Progress & Impact Series report, ‘Eliminating Malaria: Learning From the Past, Looking Ahead’.

According to Campbell and Steketee, the steps that need to be taken to move from reducing malaria-related illnesses and deaths to ending infections in Africa include:

-- Ensuring prevention and treatment tools are fully deployed, reaching every person at risk; Improving delivery of these tools and the management of malaria cases; and  Reducing the transmission of malaria.

Initial transmission reductions were largely due to killing malaria parasites in mosquitoes.

The next step should focus on the parasites in infected people, the experts suggested.

“We need to find and cure every person infected with malaria,” said Campbell, noting “we can do this by stepping up surveillance and monitoring, using real-time data, so we know where the threat has been and where it is going. Malaria deaths are entirely preventable today. We have the tools.”

National programme experiences across Africa demonstrate malaria can be eliminated today in many places, using existing tools such as long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and aggressive case detection and treatment.

New strategies and tools, such as vaccines, which are soon expected to be available, will strengthen the effort, said a statement sent to PANA here by the Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA).

'We've made great progress but we absolutely must accelerate and sustain our collective efforts. We cannot allow a reversal of the gains we have made to date,' said Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck, executive director of the RBM Partnership.

'Ending malaria in Africa requires all of us to do our part, from local communities and national governments, to global partners.  It's an ambitious goal, but one which we can achieve,” Coll-Seck said.

According to the RBM director, challenges exist, including shifting the definition of success from saving lives to ending infections and competing health priorities.

“Successfully ending the transmission of the disease and achieving elimination will require political will and sustained funding commitments. Otherwise, backslides are possible and the tremendous progress made will be lost,” she cautioned.

Pana 12/10/2011