Global War on Malaria Making Slow Progress
Little progress is being made in global efforts to combat malaria, says a special malaria issue of The Lancet medical journal.
Malaria cases have increased by nearly 50 percent since 2000, when the Abuja Declaration promised to halve the number of malaria cases within 10 years, BBC News reported.
Efforts to reduce malaria are failing due to problems with Roll Back Malaria (RBM), an international group of 90 organizations set up in 1998 to coordinate the response to the disease, The Lancet said.
The journal praised RBM for bringing malaria to the world's attention, but said that its "loose association" structure has hindered its efforts to reduce malaria cases. The division of responsibilities between RBM partners, which include the World Bank and the World Health Organization, has not been clear, The Lancet said.
"Five years on from the Abuja Summit, it is clear that not only has RBM failed in its aims but it may also have caused harm," said a commentary in The Lancet.
RBM disputed the claim that malaria cases are on the increase.
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