Health, human rights, and malaria control: historical background and current challenges

Malaria, a parasitic infection, causes hundreds of millions of disease episodes and more than a million deaths every year, nearly all of them occurring in the poorer and more vulnerable sectors of the world's developing countries. In spite of the great burden of suffering caused by malaria, the human rights implications of this disease have not been well described. This article summarizes important associations between the spread of malaria and human rights abuses (such as those associated with slavery and armed conflict) and between poverty, socio-economic inequity, and access to malaria-control measures. The author concludes that malaria control merits inclusion as a core element in global strategies to achieve progressive realization of the right to health.