Malaria research, 1980-2004, and the burden of disease

Malaria is estimated to cause about 1.6% of the 57 million deaths occurring annually and 2.3% of the disease burden. However, it accounts for only about 0.4% of world biomedical research, and this percentage is barely changing. Most of the research takes place in Europe and North America, which are little affected directly by the disease, 90% of whose burden occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. Research includes both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical approaches; the fastest growing ones involve the artemisinins and genetics. Leading countries in malaria research (including India, Thailand, Kenya and Nigeria) differ greatly in the subjects that they favour. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.