Global malaria spending falls short by $2 billion

A new report finds that global spending on malaria is falling short. Researchers found that in 2016, countries around the world spent roughly $4.3 billion toward control and elimination efforts, which is roughly $2 billion short of the WHO’s goal of spending $6.6 billion by 2020 to meet targets towards eliminating the disease. Reaching this goal would now also require a 50% increase in resources for the disease, the authors say. Looking at data from 106 countries between 2000 and 2016, the study also finds that the shortage was despite increases in funding from governments and other development programs. The new report comes as scientists are moving forward with malaria control strategies: Just this week, a pivotal vaccine trial launched in Malawi.