Between hope and a hard place

摘要

After decades of neglect, the international community is showing renewed interest in malaria. Rich countries are acknowledging that rampant, drug-resistant malaria threatens not only their own citizens when they travel to malaria-endemic areas, but also damages the economies of tropical countries and potential markets for their goods and services. This is a good time to take stock of the situation. How bad is the problem, what is being done to combat the disease, and how is fund-raising progressing? There are promising signs on all these fronts, but major obstacles remain. A distinct lack of accurate data on disease burden is hampering the scientific assessment of the impact of control measures. At the same time, a shortage of expertise and infrastructure in the healthcare and research systems of poor countries is threatening their ability to implement international initiatives.