April 25, 2008 — -- Today U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon launched World Malaria Day. "Malaria still kills more than 1 million people every year," he said. "The toll it is taking is unacceptable -- all the more so because malaria is preventable and treatable."
The United Nations is calling for the elimination of all malaria-related deaths by the end of 2010. "We have the resources and the know-how ," Ban said, "but we have less than 1,000 days before the end of 2010."
Below, ABC News takes a look at six countries battling malaria and assesses their progress in containing the disease.
NIGERIA
The WHO states that the disease is responsible for 25 percent of the deaths of children younger than 5. It estimates that about 24 million Nigerian children younger than 5 will suffer from at least two attacks of malaria annually.
In December 2006, the World Bank announced that it had doubled funding to fight malaria to the tune of $180 million. The money went toward a project that planned to cut the country's malaria cases in half by 2010.
But today, on World Malaria Day, Yemi Sofola, the national coordinator of the roll-back-malaria program, told reporters that the country would not be able to meet the 2010 deadline.
SENEGAL
YEMEN
INDIA
INDONESIA
BRAZIL
