The DOI matches its Crossref record; 22 of the 22 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The effect of malaria control on Plasmodium falciparum in Africa between 2000 and 2015
Open accessAbstract
Since the year 2000, a concerted campaign against malaria has led to unprecedented levels of intervention coverage across sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the effect of this control effort is vital to inform future control planning. However, the effect of malaria interventions across the varied epidemiological settings of Africa remains poorly understood owing to the absence of reliable surveillance data and the simplistic approaches underlying current disease estimates. Here we link a large database of malaria field surveys with detailed reconstructions of changing intervention coverage to directly evaluate trends from 2000 to 2015, and quantify the attributable effect of malaria disease control efforts. We found that Plasmodium falciparum infection prevalence in endemic Africa halved and the incidence of clinical disease fell by 40% between 2000 and 2015. We estimate that interventions have averted 663 (542–753 credible interval) million clinical cases since 2000. Insecticide-treated nets, the most widespread intervention, were by far the largest contributor (68% of cases averted). Although still below target levels, current malaria interventions have substantially reduced malaria disease incidence across the continent. Increasing access to these interventions, and maintaining their effectiveness in the face of insecticide and drug resistance, should form a cornerstone of post-2015 control strategies. In this study, the authors present an analysis of the malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2015, and quantify the effects of the interventions that have been implemented to combat the disease; they find that the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection has been reduced by 50% since 2000 and the incidence of clinical disease by 40%, and that interventions have averted approximately 663 million clinical cases since 2000, with insecticide-treated bed nets being the largest contributor. In one of the largest public health campaigns in history, a concerted malaria control campaign has been under way in sub-Saharan Africa for the past 15 years. Billions of dollars have been invested to provide interventions such as bed nets and antimalarial drugs but the overall effect on malaria burden remains unclear. This study uses field data from 30,000 population clusters in a sophisticated space–time modelling framework to quantify the changing Plasmodium falciparum risk (a 40% decline in case incidence since 2000) and the role of malaria interventions (around 700 million cases averted). Although below target levels, the current campaign has substantially reduced the incidence of malaria across the continent. Continued success will depend upon increasing access to these interventions, and maintaining their effectiveness in the face of insecticide and drug resistance.
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“LLINs and IRS are effective strategies controlling malaria but unfortunately they can only operate indoors [41, 42].”
From Entomological indicators of malaria transmission prior to a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a 'lethal house lure' intervention in central Côte d'Ivoire (2022) · cites this paper as [42]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The combination of LLINs and IRS has proven effective in different parts of Africa, and IRS provides more flexibility in the choice of insecticides against insecticide-resistant mosquitoes than LLINs [6, 7].”
From Characterization and abundance of malaria vectors in Sakassou, Central Côte d'Ivoire (2025) · cites this paper as [6]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The degree of mortality concentration estimated by this study for enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, and tuberculosis reflects substantial global progress in reducing mortality from these causes over the study period, underscoring the success of several public health campaigns, global commitments, and improvements in communicable-disease programmes.28,”
From Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (2024) · cites this paper as [30]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Over the last two decades, vector control tools like long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) have played a key role in the reduction of malaria transmission in SSA [4, 5].”
From Spatial temporal distribution of Anopheles mosquitoes in different ecological zones of Ghana (2026) · cites this paper as [4]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“Widescale implementation of core vector control—specifically long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying—has contributed to substantial reductions in the burden of malaria.1, 2”
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Citations
Cites
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Insecticide-treated bed nets and curtains for preventing malaria
Lengeler, C. (2004) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd000363.pub2 · Cited by 1,700
A new world malaria map: Plasmodium falciparum endemicity in 2010
Gething, P. W., Patil, A. P., Smith, D. L., Guerra, C. A., Elyazar, I., Johnston, G. L., Tatem, A. J., & Hay, S. I. (2011) · Malaria Journal · doi:10.1186/1475-2875-10-378 · Cited by 1,169
Self-citationDiggle, P. J., & Ribeiro, P. J. (2007) · Springer series in statistics · doi:10.1007/978-0-387-48536-2 · Cited by 1,094
A World Malaria Map: Plasmodium falciparum Endemicity in 2007
Hay, S. I., Guerra, C. A., Gething, P. W., Patil, A. P., Tatem, A. J., Noor, A. M., Kabaria, C. W., Manh, B. H., Elyazar, I., BROOKER, S. J., et al. (2009) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000048 · Cited by 506
Self-citationEstimating the Global Clinical Burden of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in 2007
Hay, S. I., Okiro, E. A., Gething, P. W., Patil, A. P., Tatem, A. J., Guerra, C. A., & Snow, R. W. (2010) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000290 · Cited by 374
Self-citationNoor, A. M., Kinyoki, D. K., Mundia, C. W., Kabaria, C. W., Mutua, J. W., Alegana, V. A., Fall, I. S., & Snow, R. W. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62566-0 · Cited by 259
Estimates of the changing age-burden of Plasmodium falciparum malaria disease in sub-Saharan Africa
Griffin, J. T., Ferguson, N. M., & Ghani, A. C. (2014) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms4136 · Cited by 226
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Items 1,001–1,006 of 1,006
Oumbouke, W. A., Tia, I. Z., Barreaux, A. M. G., Koffi, A. A., Sternberg, E. D., Thomas, M. B., & N’Guessan, R. (2018) · Malaria Journal · doi:10.1186/s12936-018-2517-9 · Cited by 17
Ogieuhi, I. J., Ajekiigbe, V. O., Kolo-Manma, K., Akingbola, A., Odeniyi, T. A., Soyemi, T. S., Ayomide, J. H., Thiyagarajan, B., & Awolola, B. D. (2024) · Discover Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12982-024-00284-w · Cited by 13
Sadoine, M. L., Smargiassi, A., Liu, Y., Gachon, P., Fournier, M., Dueymes, G., Namuganga, J. F., Dorsey, G., Nasri, B., & Zinszer, K. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20227042 · Cited by 10
Solar geoengineering could redistribute malaria risk in developing countries
Carlson, C. J., Colwell, R., Hossain, M. S., Rahman, M. M., Robock, A., Ryan, S. J., Alam, M. S., & Trisos, C. H. (2020) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2020.10.21.20217257 · Cited by 49
Characterization and abundance of malaria vectors in Sakassou, Central Côte d'Ivoire
Bellai, L. G., Koudou, B. G., Utzinger, J., Müller, P., & Edi, C. A. V. (2025) · Malaria Journal · doi:10.1186/s12936-025-05451-1 · Cited by 2
“The combination of LLINs and IRS has proven effective in different parts of Africa, and IRS provides more flexibility in the choice of insecticides against insecticide-resistant mosquitoes than LLINs [6, 7].”
Spatial temporal distribution of Anopheles mosquitoes in different ecological zones of Ghana
Abdulai, A., Owusu-Asenso, C. M., Mohammed Sabtiu, A. R., Sraku, I. K., Akuamoah-Boateng, Y., Ebuako, A. A., Awotwe, L. E., Doe, R. T., Boadu, E. N., Appiah, A. A., et al. (2026) · Gigabyte · doi:10.46471/gigabyte.175 · Cited by 1
“Over the last two decades, vector control tools like long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) have played a key role in the reduction of malaria transmission in SSA [4, 5].”
Metadata
- Authors
- Bhatt, S., Weiss, D. J., Cameron, E., Bisanzio, D., Mappin, B., Dalrymple, U., Battle, K. E., Moyes, C. L., Henry, A., Eckhoff, P. A., Wenger, E. A., Briët, O., Penny, M. A., Smith, T. A., Bennett, A., Yukich, J., Eisele, T. P., Griffin, J. T., Fergus, C. A., Lynch, M., Lindgren, F., Cohen, J. M., Murray, C. L. J., Smith, D. L., Hay, S. I., Cibulskis, R. E., & Gething, P. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Intellectual Ventures (United States) (US)
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Tulane University (US)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- World Health Organization (CH)
- University of Bath (GB)
- Clinton Health Access Initiative (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gething, P. W.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2015-09-16
- Volume
- 526
- Issue
- 7572
- Pages
- 207-211
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- PMC
- PMC4820050
- OpenAlex
- W1729017034
- Cited by
- 3,225
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 211 · 2025: 277 · 2024: 329 · 2023: 298 · 2022: 343 · 2021: 397 · 2020: 401 · 2019: 271 · 2018: 248 · 2017: 239 · 2016: 185 · 2015: 20
- FWCI
- 247.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Pure (University of Bath) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- The University of Bath Online Publications Store (The University of Bath) (submittedVersion)
- Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Wellcome Trust (095066)
- Medical Research Council (MR/K00669X/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Malaria Research and Control
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Bird parasitology and diseases
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › History of Medicine and Tropical Health
- Keywords
- malaria control, Plasmodium falciparum, sub-Saharan Africa, insecticide-treated nets, clinical malaria incidence, malaria prevalence, spatio-temporal modeling, malaria burden, antimalarial drugs, insecticide resistance
- MeSH terms
- Africa, Animals, Antimalarials, Child, Child, Preschool, Drug Resistance, Humans, Insecticides, Plasmodium falciparum, Incidence, Prevalence, Databases, Factual, Malaria, Falciparum, Risk Assessment, Endemic Diseases, Insecticide-Treated Bednets
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