More money needed in malaria fight

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LONDON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Nearly $5 billion is needed in the fight to control malaria, British and Kenyan officials said.

There is a 60 percent global shortfall of funding, and just 21 of 93 countries where malaria is common have received enough money to implement effective control measures, the BBC reported.

The information is part of a Lancet medical journal report by Oxford University's Bob Snow and Kenya's Kenyatta National Hospital, which also found that international funding had increased by 166 percent since 2007, from $730 million to $1.9 billion.

The Roll Back Malaria Campaign said $4.9 billion is needed to fight the mosquito-borne disease this year.

"Poor countries with inadequate donor assistance and large sectors of their population at risk of malaria must remain the focus of attention," Snow said.

In the Lancet article, the two said: "Any decline in malaria funding commitments will run the risk of a resurgence of malaria."

Malaria funding has increased as part of international efforts to reach Millennium Development Goals, the report said.