April 25th marks World Malaria Day – in recognition of the global efforts to eradicate the disease, and the challenges remaining.

In 2008, there were an estimated 250 million cases of malarial infection, which resulted in approximately 850,000 deaths worldwide.

For children under the age of five, malaria is the fifth leading cause of mortality, accounting for 7% of all deaths. 89% of these were in Africa.

Source: WHO, World Malaria Report 2009, and WHO, The global burden of disease: 2004 update.

Significant progress has been made over the past decade in combating malaria thanks to the UN-led Roll Back Malaria partnership, public-private partnerships, other collaborations and country-led initiatives,

A recent report from Roll Back Malaria (RBM) shows a ten-fold increase in global malaria funding from external sources to nearly $1.8 billion in 2009, a five-fold increase in global production of insecticide-treated nets to 150 million, and a more than 30-fold increase in the procurement of artemisinin-based combination therapies (recognized as the best for the treatment multi-drug resistant strains of malaria) to 160 million doses.

These efforts have helped improved access to prevention and treatments for malaria, but there remain challenges – particularly in regards to distribution of care and capacity of local health systems.

The RBM report highlights that in many parts of Africa, children with fever receiving anti-malarial medicines are as likely to obtain them at home as at a health facility. As countries try to eradicate malaria, they must not only improve treatment practices in health facilities, but also educate the general population to help those who can't make it to a clinic.

Source: UNICEF global malaria databases 2010 based on latest available data from Multiple Indicator Cluster
Surveys (MICS; Rounds 2 and 3) conducted in 24 African countries between 2000 and 2006.