Preventing disease and saving lives: the malaria season is upon us

In South Africa, malaria is endemic in three provinces - Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal (Fig. 1) - and transmission occurs predominantly between September and May. super(1) Over the past decade, the National Department of Health (DoH) has focused intense efforts on preventing the local transmission of malaria, and on ensuring the prompt and effective management of cases, especially in the endemic provinces. The DoH has recorded significant success in reducing the burden of malaria through the implementation of its key interventions: Vector Control, Case Management, Surveillance, Health Promotion, and Epidemic Preparedness and Response. Notified malaria cases in the aforementioned provinces have decreased by 88% over the past decade, from 64622 cases in 2000 to 7626 in 2010. In the same period, malaria-related deaths have been reduced by 81%, from 458 to 87 deaths super(2).