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Urbanization and the global malaria recession

Urbanization and the global malaria recession
Urbanization and the global malaria recession
The past century has seen a significant contraction in the global extent of malaria transmission, resulting in over 50 countries being declared malaria free, and many regions of currently endemic countries eliminating the disease. Moreover, substantial reductions in transmission have been seen since 1900 in those areas that remain endemic today. Recent work showed that this malaria recession was unlikely to have been driven by climatic factors, and that control measures likely played a significant role. It has long been considered, however, that economic development, and particularly urbanization, has also been a causal factor. The urbanization process results in profound socio-economic and landscape changes that reduce malaria transmission, but the magnitude and extent of these effects on global endemicity reductions are poorly understood. METHODS: Global data at subnational spatial resolution on changes in malaria transmission intensity and urbanization trends over the past century were combined to examine the relationships seen over a range of spatial and temporal scales.Results/Conclusions: A consistent pattern of increased urbanization coincident with decreasing malaria transmission and elimination over the past century was found. Whilst it remains challenging to untangle whether this increased urbanization resulted in decreased transmission, or that malaria reductions promoted development, the results point to a close relationship between the two, irrespective of national wealth. The continuing rapid urbanization in malaria-endemic regions suggests that such malaria declines are likely to continue, particularly catalyzed by increasing levels of direct malaria control.
1475-2875
133
Tatem, Andrew J
6c6de104-a5f9-46e0-bb93-a1a7c980513e
Gething, Peter W
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Smith, David L
726ac8a3-342d-4955-bd50-433e58984dc3
Hay, Simon I
9e3daacb-7582-4999-82df-04a926fb2768
Tatem, Andrew J
6c6de104-a5f9-46e0-bb93-a1a7c980513e
Gething, Peter W
f8e80d09-acc3-4f5d-a2de-bff551f34760
Smith, David L
726ac8a3-342d-4955-bd50-433e58984dc3
Hay, Simon I
9e3daacb-7582-4999-82df-04a926fb2768

Tatem, Andrew J, Gething, Peter W, Smith, David L and Hay, Simon I (2013) Urbanization and the global malaria recession. Malaria Journal, 12 (1), 133. (doi:10.1186/1475-2875-12-133). (PMID:23594701)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The past century has seen a significant contraction in the global extent of malaria transmission, resulting in over 50 countries being declared malaria free, and many regions of currently endemic countries eliminating the disease. Moreover, substantial reductions in transmission have been seen since 1900 in those areas that remain endemic today. Recent work showed that this malaria recession was unlikely to have been driven by climatic factors, and that control measures likely played a significant role. It has long been considered, however, that economic development, and particularly urbanization, has also been a causal factor. The urbanization process results in profound socio-economic and landscape changes that reduce malaria transmission, but the magnitude and extent of these effects on global endemicity reductions are poorly understood. METHODS: Global data at subnational spatial resolution on changes in malaria transmission intensity and urbanization trends over the past century were combined to examine the relationships seen over a range of spatial and temporal scales.Results/Conclusions: A consistent pattern of increased urbanization coincident with decreasing malaria transmission and elimination over the past century was found. Whilst it remains challenging to untangle whether this increased urbanization resulted in decreased transmission, or that malaria reductions promoted development, the results point to a close relationship between the two, irrespective of national wealth. The continuing rapid urbanization in malaria-endemic regions suggests that such malaria declines are likely to continue, particularly catalyzed by increasing levels of direct malaria control.

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More information

Published date: 17 April 2013
Organisations: Global Env Change & Earth Observation, WorldPop, Geography & Environment, PHEW – P (Population Health), Population, Health & Wellbeing (PHeW)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 351750
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/351750
ISSN: 1475-2875
PURE UUID: c3f53e75-a370-4c26-bb56-e551525136c0
ORCID for Andrew J Tatem: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7270-941X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 Apr 2013 11:18
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:43

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Contributors

Author: Andrew J Tatem ORCID iD
Author: Peter W Gething
Author: David L Smith
Author: Simon I Hay

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