A CENTURY ago, malaria existed nearly everywhere in the world. It was endemic in America and Britain until the early 1950s. By 1970 much of the rich world had wiped it out. Today, 107 countries are malaria-free. Another 28 are in the elimination stage, meaning they have less than one diagnosed case per 1,000 people per year.

A paper published by the UN and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on September 28th claims that the world can be rid of malaria by 2040. The countries projected to become malaria-free last are African nations where vast areas are hard to reach, often because of armed conflict.

Achieving global eradication depends on two things. One is a greater investment in traditional measures to bring malaria infections down, including bed nets treated with insecticide, epidemiological surveillance, and rapid diagnosis and treatment. The other is a robust pipeline of new drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and insecticides. With perseverance, the world can see the end of a scourge that kills 450,000 people a year, within a generation.

Read more: Our leader "Eradicating diseases" on viruses and parasites and "Breaking the fever", our briefing on malaria eradication.