Malaria has been a major global health problem of humans through history and is a leading cause of death and disease across many tropical and subtropical countries. Over the last fifteen years renewed efforts at control have reduced the prevalence of malaria by over half raising the prospect that elimination and perhaps eradication may in the long term be possible. To achieve this goal will require the development of new tools including novel antimalarial drugs and more efficacious vaccines as well as an increased understanding of the disease and the biology of the malaria parasite. This has catalysed a major effort that has resulted in the development and regulatory approval of the first vaccine against malaria (RTS,S/AS01) as well as the identification of novel drug targets and antimalarial compounds some of which are in human clinical trials.
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