Guest edited by Florence Fuque, Sarthak Das, Maxine Whittaker, Zaixing Zhang, Robert Bergquist and Xiao-Nong Zhou
A thematic series in Infectious Diseases of Poverty.
Malaria remains one of the infectious diseases with the highest burden of disease in the world. According to the World Malaria Report, 229 million malaria cases and 409 000 deaths were estimated in 2019. Although a growing number of countries with a low burden of malaria have been moving with steady determination towards the target of zero malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm about the worrying overall trend in the global response to malaria. We are, however, pleased that seven countries, including China, Algeria, Paraguay, El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan, in recent years have reached malaria elimination, a milestone of inspiration for all malaria-endemic nations that are working to stamp out the disease.
All countries that have eliminated malaria have a rich experience with regard to the following aspects: (i) high political commitment at all levels, including financial and human resources supporting malaria control and elimination; (ii) multi-sectoral, multi-regional and multi-disciplinary cooperation; (iii) continuously updated technical measures and strategies; (iv) community mobilization; (v) international cooperation and communication. We aim to transfer their leadership to other countries where malaria is still endemic, thereby further contributing to a healthy world by achieving the final goal of malaria eradication.
In view of the above considerations, Infectious Diseases of Poverty is launching a new thematic series dealing with how lessons learned can help us move from the malaria elimination venture towards actually achieving this goal worldwide. The thematic series aims to cover a wide range of research interests ranging from the experience gained by engaging in malaria control and elimination programmes in different countries that have eliminated malaria in recent years to stand-alone projects based on epidemiology, geographic information systems (GIS), impact on social and economic development and the like.
