UN efforts against malaria off track, more money needed
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Malaria remains a nagging problem in Africa and efforts to curb the killer disease are "off-track," the World Health Organisation said in a new report issued.
Despite the billions of dollars spent on malaria programmes, the UN health agency said too many people are missing out on available resources like medicines and bed nets that protect against mosquitoes that spread the disease.
WHO had set a goal of cutting malaria cases to "near zero" by the end of last year. It fell far short, and now is aiming to reduce malaria cases and deaths by at least 90 per cent by 2030.
"We're far from having completed the job," said Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of WHO's malaria department. "The hardest is yet to come."
He said gains could be hurt by a lack of funding, which has stagnated in the last six years.
According to report, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429,000 deaths in 2015, a slight drop from the previous year. But the figures were based largely on patchy data and modeling; the report said surveillance systems catch fewer than 20 per cent of cases.
Despite the billions of dollars spent on malaria programmes, the UN health agency said too many people are missing out on available resources like medicines and bed nets that protect against mosquitoes that spread the disease.
WHO had set a goal of cutting malaria cases to "near zero" by the end of last year. It fell far short, and now is aiming to reduce malaria cases and deaths by at least 90 per cent by 2030.
"We're far from having completed the job," said Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of WHO's malaria department. "The hardest is yet to come."
He said gains could be hurt by a lack of funding, which has stagnated in the last six years.
According to report, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429,000 deaths in 2015, a slight drop from the previous year. But the figures were based largely on patchy data and modeling; the report said surveillance systems catch fewer than 20 per cent of cases.
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