Malaria remains one of the world's biggest health challenges, with efforts across the world to eliminate the mosquito-borne disease failing so far.
According to the World Health Organisation the disease killed more than 600,000 people in 2012.
April 25 has been named as World Malaria Day, to remind the public and the world that malaria is both preventable and curable.
Malaria mortality rates have fallen by 42 per cent globally since 2000, but still approximately half of the world's population is at risk from the disease.
The World Health Organisation says it killed around 627,000 people in 2012. Most of the malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs.
In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines.
Key interventions to control malaria include: prompt and effective treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies; use of insecticidal nets by people at risk; and indoor residual spraying with insecticide to control the vector mosquitoes.
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