Fifteen years ago, malaria killed a child every 30 seconds. Under the Millennium Development Goals, and thanks to the contributions of donors including the UK, considerable progress has been made in preventing, diagnosing and treating malaria. As a result deaths have fallen by 60 percent since 2000. This has meant 1.2 billion fewer cases and 6 million lives saved.
Now, under the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, we are aiming to reduce malaria cases and deaths by a further 90 percent by 2030. We know what works – surveillance systems to find and treat every case; scaling up of preventive measures, such as mosquito nets; and universal access to diagnose and treatment.
To achieve this transformative goal of ending malaria, we need a scaling up of domestic and international resources – to $8.7 billion annually by 2030. The UK continues to play a leading role, with a recent pledge to spend £500 million annually on malaria and the establishment of the Ross Fund to support disease research. Now we need other governments, in both donor and malaria-endemic countries, to join the UK in committing to defeating malaria.
To find out more about the progress that has been and the challenges that remain to defeat one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases, watch our new animation.