Beyond direct protection: Meningococcal vaccine effects on carriage

Between 2000 and 2012, malaria incidence rates were reduced by 29% globally, and by 31% in the WHO African Region. The global malaria mortality rate was reduced by 45% during the same period, while the decrease in the WHO African Region was 49%. While this progress is unprecedented, malaria still kills over 600,000 people and results in more than 200 million cases every year. While current interventions and strategies remain effective and save lives in most settings, they entail high long-term costs and are threatened by drug and insecticide resistance. New interventions and new strategies are needed for accelerating the pathway to eradication and the best way to sustain the progress gained by high level control and to prevent resurgence. Investments leading to new insights and innovations in the science of eradication and flexible delivery models can help speed the trajectory to malaria eradication by detecting and eliminating the human reservoir of infection in asymptomatic persons combined with effective and complete transmission prevention. While sustaining current gains is imperative, a new emphasis on achieving the goal of eradication is vital today.