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A "Reiter Review" of Global Warming and Malaria
Reference
Reiter, P. 2008. Global warming and malaria: knowing the horse before hitching the cart. Malaria Journal 7 (Supplement 1): 10.1186/1475-2875-7-S1-S3.

Background
The author -- who works with the Insects and Infectious Disease Unit of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France -- writes that "man-made climate change has become a defining moral and political issue of our age," noting that "speculations on its potential impact often focus on infectious diseases, and on malaria in particular," while stating that "predictions are common that in the coming decades, tens -- even hundreds -- of millions more cases will occur in regions where the disease is already present, and that the vectors and the pathogens will move to higher latitudes and altitudes," infecting even more people.

What was done
In his review paper analyzing these claims, Reiter first discusses the Mathematical models that are employed in this endeavor, after which he discusses Common misconceptions and the nature of Malaria in temperate regions, under which heading he mentions such items as (1) ecological change, (2) new farm crops, (3) new rearing practices, (4) urbanization and mechanization, (5) human living conditions and (6) medical care. Then, under Malaria in the tropics, he discusses (1) stable endemic malaria, (2) unstable endemic malaria, (3) birth rate, (4) forest clearance, (5) agriculture, (6) movement of people, (7) urbanization, (8) insecticide resistance, (9) resistance to drugs, (10) degradation of the health infrastructure and (11) war and civil strife, after which he treats three additional topics Highland malaria in the tropics, Kenya highlands and New Guinea highlands.

What was learned
In his brief conclusion, Reiter states that "simplistic reasoning on the future prevalence of malaria is ill-founded; malaria is not limited by climate in most temperate regions, nor in the tropics, and in nearly all cases, 'new' malaria at high altitudes is well below the maximum altitudinal limits for transmission," further stating that "future changes in climate may alter the prevalence and incidence of the disease, but obsessive emphasis on 'global warming' as a dominant parameter is indefensible; the principal determinants are linked to ecological and societal change, politics and economics."

What it means
So what is to be done to reduce the prevalence and incidence of malaria? We clearly don't have to undertake such a mammoth task as changing the world's climate, from Reiter's point of view. Instead, he says there is simply "a critical need for cheap, effective control campaigns, as were implemented during the DDT era," concluding that "a creative and organized search for new strategies, perhaps based on new technologies, is urgently required, irrespective of future climate change."

Reviewed 21 September 2011