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Since 2000, a few simple solutions have saved approximately 663 million people from contracting malaria, according to an analysis published Sept. 16 in the journalNature.
Researchers report that insecticide-treated bed nets, insecticides sprayed on indoor surfaces, and prompt treatment with combination drug therapy collectively helped reduce the spread of malaria throughout a large swath of sub-Saharan Africa.
Almost half of the world’s population is at risk of getting malaria. More than half a million people — most of whom are children — still die from the disease every year.
But the massive reduction in cases over the last 15 years, as reported in Nature, has prevented 6.2 million deaths, according to a report from the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Rebecca Harrington 