I) What is the problem?
Malaria is a blood-borne infection caused by parasites and transmitted to people by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. Untreated, the infection can result in severe anemia, lung and kidney failure, coma and death. The disease is the leading cause of school absenteeism in sub-Saharan Africa, and children with malaria have greater difficulty learning and concentrating. Many children who survive an episode of severe malaria suffer learning impairments or brain damage.

Today, approximately 40% of the world's population—mostly those living in the world's poorest countries—are at risk of getting the disease, and children under 5 years of age, pregnant women and unborn babies are the most vulnerable. Malaria causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths annually—90% of those deaths among children. The disease typically occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where it accounts for 18% of under-five mortality.

     II) What are the evidence-based interventions?
Cost-effective and proven prevention measures include the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying with insecticides, and intermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy (IPTp). Currently, the most effective antimalarial drugs currently available are artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs).

Diagnosis of most malaria cases is based solely on clinical grounds, without laboratory confirmation. Diagnosis is challenging because the symptoms and signs of malaria are not specific to the disease. Therefore, many people treated for malaria do not have the infection and, because of the high cost of ACTs, the need for accurate diagnosis of malaria is essential to the success of national malaria control programs.