According to the World Health Organization there are 300 to 500 million clinical cases of malaria each year resulting in 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths. Children aged one to four are the most vulnerable to infection and death.
Malaria is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African children under the age of five.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest malaria infection rate. Here alone, the disease kills at least one million people each year. Of the four human malaria strains, Plasmodium falciparum is the most common and deadly form. Malaria is now spreading to areas previously free of the disease. Malaria kills 8,000 Brazilians yearly - more than AIDS and cholera combined.