How big a problem is malaria?
Malaria is a public health problem in more than 90 countries, inhabited by a total of some 2.4 billion people, representing about 40% of the world s population. Best estimates currently describe the annual global burden of malaria as: 1.1 million deaths, 300-500 million cases. It has been estimated that the economic burden is also extremely high, accounting for a reduction of 1.3% in the annual economic growth rate of malaria endemic countries, and that the long-term impact in these countries is a reduction of GNP of more than half. Malaria is not a uniform disease. It has many manifestations and its impact varies. Over 90% of the disease burden is in sub-Saharan Africa, and almost all deaths (due to Plasmodium falciparum ) occur in Africa. Most of the remaining burden is distributed between the Indian sub-continent, south-east Asia and Oceania, and the Americas. After P. falciparum, P. vivax is the next most significant malaria species. It may cause up to 80 million cases per year, ap
