LONDON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Attempts to completely eradicate malaria in some countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, might be counterproductive, researchers suggest.
Failure to meet any declared timeline to wipe out the disease, researchers writing in the British medical journal Lancet say, "could lead to dangerous swings in funding and political commitment, in malaria and elsewhere."
In the article they suggest some countries, particularly in Africa, may have more success pursuing a policy of controlling the disease rather than outright eradication.
They urge a pragmatic approach using available resources to shrink the global areas where malaria still prevails.
In an editorial accompanying the researchers' writings, the Lancet argues control may save more lives.
"If existing control efforts were indeed scaled up, by 2015, 1.14 million children's lives could be saved in sub-Saharan Africa alone," the editorial said.
"This finding is important. The quest for elimination must not distract existing good malaria control work," it said.
