Meeting malaria targets 'unlikely'

The international aid community is unlikely to meet targets to protect 80 per cent of vulnerable nations against malaria by 2015, according to a study published in the Lancet.

Researchers, monitoring the increase in the number of insecticide treated bednets handed out, found 18.5 per cent of African children or 20.3 million received this protection last year.

This had increased from only 1.8 per cent or 1.7 million in 2000, a commentary by the KEMRI University of Oxford Welcome Trust Collaborative Programme in Kenya said.

Some 90 million children remained unprotected with a quarter of those living in Nigeria, according to author Dr Abdisalan Noor from the programme.

International aid agency targets are for 80 per cent of vulnerable people to own an insecticide treated bednet by 2015.

The authors concluded: "These targets remain elusive across vast areas of Africa. Increased funding and more informed use of this funding is desperately needed."

One in every five childrenhood deaths in Africa are from malaria, according to the World Health Organization.

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