July 2010

New Estimates of the Global Clinical Malaria Burden

Using a new technique to derive global clinical burden estimates of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, MEG members Simon Hay and Bob Snow, along with colleagues from the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP), have estimated a global map of clinical malaria cases. Recently published in PLoS Medicine, the study uses a cartographic approach versus a traditional national surveillance systems approach. Authors estimated that there were over 450 million clinical cases of P. falciparum malaria in 2007, with more than half occurring in only four countries: India, Myanmar, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An accurate picture of the global clinical burden of malaria is extremely valuable to concentrate efforts and resources where they will have the greatest impact.

Estimating the Global Clinical Burden of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in 2007