Inadequate funds blocking malaria research, WHO says

The latest WHO report on the state of malaria in the world says inadequate of funds is a major speed brake to ongoing research in the fight against malaria.

Since 2010 and until last year the number of malaria cases reduced by 21 percent while mortality reduced by 29 percent.

Also more kids and and pregnant women are benefiting from malaria treatment . In areas like Comoros, Malaria is almost disappearing completely.

“Massive treatment has disappeared. Right now patients are rare because at first we use to have lots of patients. Many hospitals had mainly malaria patients but since the massive treatment the number of patients coming to hospitals reduced,” Alhadhur Mohamed, a doctor at the Foumbouni health centre in Comoros said.

The report says funding in efforts to combat malaria has reduced after an increase between 2000 and 2010.

Sub Saharan Africa has registered the highest number of Malaria victims with 90 percent of cases recorded last year with about 92 percent of deaths.

Another aspect which has sent researchers back to the drawing board is the phenomenon whereby mosquitoes are increasingly resisting insecticides.

The WHO report remains optimistic that malaria could be eliminated from 10 countries before 2020.

A vaccine will be introduced in African countries as from 2018.

World wide 212 million cases of malaria have been recorded with about 429.000 cases of death noticed in 2015. The battle is however still far from being over.