Malaria

Malaria is one of the leading causes of morbidity and death worldwide, with over 100 million cases and at least a million deaths a year. Most of these deaths are in the poorest regions of the world. Because malaria is a highly complex disease, the diversity of research to prevent and treat it is probably greater than for any other disease. It ranges from modelling climate change and satellite data to predict epidemics through to elucidating the genome sequence of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the mosquito vector Anopheles gambiae.1–5 The cultural diversity and poverty of seriously affected populations in Africa, Asia, and South America present particular challenges. Here social science, especially anthropology and economic research, have as important a role as traditional laboratory work. Malaria research is exciting because it is rapidly moving and cross disciplinary. It is also depressing, as the spread of drug resistant parasites, extreme poverty, and the collapse of health services under the impact of HIV or war undermine much of this progress.