Malaria infects as many as 300-500 million people a year most of these occurring in Africa and more than one to three million cases of malaria each year result in death. It is the leading cause of death for children under age five in sub-Saharan Africa, and a predominant killer of pregnant women and their unborn children. Malaria costs Africa an estimated $12 billion in lost productivity each year.

An innovative approach using an experimental vaccine to destroy the parasite that causes malaria was reported in a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December 2006.

• Dr. Owen Rennert, M.D., Scientific Director National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health