There has been a fall of nearly 40 percent in the number of deaths from malaria worldwide in the past decade, according to a new World Health Organization report, which said that one-third of the 108 countries where malaria was endemic were on course to eradicate the disease within 10 years.
If targets continued to be met, a further three million lives could be saved by 2015, experts said.
Malaria is one of the deadliest global diseases, particularly in Africa. In 2009, 781,000 people died from malaria. The mosquito-borne disease is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where 85% of deaths occurred, most of them children under five.
Since 2007, It has been eradicated from three countries - Morocco, Turkmenistan and Armenia.
The Roll Back Malaria Partnership aims to eliminate malaria in another eight to 10 countries by the end of 2015, including the entire WHO European Region.
Robert Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said ‘remarkable progress’ had been made.
BBC
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