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The roadmap to eradicate malaria

The Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (Hospital Clínic-University of Barcelona), led by the world expert in malaria Pedro Alonso, is coordinating an international project to eradicate malaria. A worldwide research and development agenda has been established through a consultation process involving 250 scientists

STAFF | JANUARY 27TH, 2011

Malaria is a disease transmitted through mosquito bites

Eradicating malaria is one of the major current challenges of science and global public health and has led to the birth of the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (MalERA). It is the creation of a global protocol that establishes a set of priorities for research and development designed to eliminate this disease.

The agenda is the result of a two-year-long consultation process involving more than 250 scientists from 36 countries. The project has tried to capture a common vision shared among research institutions, scientific policy makers and funding agencies on the key research and development steps needed to eradicate malaria.

MalERA is headquartered at the Barcelona Centre for International Health Center (CRESIB), whose director, global malaria expert Peter Alonso, chaired the Steering Committee that guided the process. The project's findings were recently published in the journal PLoS Medicine, which has dedicated a special issue with 12 articles that summarize the main findings of the initiative.

The agenda is the result of a consultation process involving over 250 scientists from 36 countriesThe agenda does not prescribe specific activities, but rather points to a set of priorities for research and development. These include the study of a neglected species that causes malaria in humans, the development of drugs to prevent and cure the disease, the development of vaccines to prevent transmission, and improvements in health and social welfare systems to assess and prevent the spread of malaria.

This is a very ambitious goal, which, according to MalERA, can only be reached by the youngest generations of new scientists and only if the research in various fields starts now. The role of CRESIB as coordinator of this global effort situates the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and the University of Barcelona at the epicenter of research in the fight against malaria.

Malaria remains endemic in 106 countries despite major progress in recent years. It is estimated that in 2009 there were 781,000 deaths from this disease.

Read the original article published in PLoS Medicine: http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info:doi/10.1371/issue.pcol.v07.i13

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