Halting the toll of malaria in Africa.

A renaissance in commitment to malaria control is transforming the perspectives and aspirations of the global community, prompting a consideration of goals for confronting a disease that is responsible for legendary death and suffering in Africa. The results in several countries are producing confidence that current control interventions can result in a dramatic reduction in the burden that malaria causes. However, the complexities of the challenges that must be addressed for comprehensive Africa programming are formidable in terms of the time required and the resources that will have to be mobilized. Progress toward elimination of the malaria burden in the African region in the next 5 years will be the critical benchmark for the feasibility of a comprehensive global campaign to eliminate and potentially eradicate malaria.