Important to keep obstacles to malaria control in mind as research moves forward

Nov 4 2011

In a post in the Center for Strategic & International Studies' "Smart Global Health" blog, Julia Nagel, web and social media assistant at the Global Health Policy Center, examines "the obstacles that global malaria control efforts face," writing that "eradicating malaria is complex and difficult" because "there are four species of human malaria" that "respond differently to medicines, exhibit drug resistance in different ways, and most importantly, make finding a fool-proof vaccine against all malaria nearly impossible." She adds, "Another challenge is that malaria is caused by a single-cell parasite which has the ability to evolve in ways that evade the human immune system." She concludes, "While the overall situation appears daunting, there are numerous reasons to be optimistic about the future of malaria control efforts. ... It is just so important -- looking forward -- to keep these obstacles in mind and be realistic as to what can be achieved in what time frame" (11/2).