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Nature 430, 934-935 (19 August 2004) | doi:10.1038/430934a; Published online 18 August 2004

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Malaria The invisible victims

Robert W. Snow1

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We need to know how bad the malaria situation is before we can make it better, says Robert Snow.

Despite the fanfare surrounding pledges to halve the number of malaria deaths over the next decade, the truth is that scientists have little idea how many people get sick or die from malaria, or where, let alone whether control efforts are working. Researchers lack data to evaluate accurately the impact of interventions such as drugs or insecticide-impregnated bednets.