Today, the World Health Organization launched the 2011 World Malaria Report, chronicling 2010 data on the fight against malaria from across the globe and showing an all-time low in malaria incidence and deaths.

Here are some of the highlights:

• There were an estimated 655 000 malaria deaths in 2010, an all-time low. Of these, 91% were in Africa and 86% occurred among children under 5 years of age.
• Malaria mortality rates have fallen by a remarkable 26% globally and 33% in Africa since 2000, and there has been a 5.3% drop in global malaria deaths in the past year.
• The estimated incidence of malaria globally has reduced by 17% since 2000.
• According to the new estimates, a child now dies every minute from malaria.
• Yet there were still an estimated 216 million episodes of malaria in 2010, of which approximately 81%, or 174 million cases, were in the African Region.
• One of the most effective tools in the fight against malaria is long-lasting insecticidal nets. According to the report, the number of bed nets delivered to malaria-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 88.5 million in 2009 to 145 million nets in 2010. An estimated 50% of households in sub-Saharan Africa now at least have one bed net, and almost 96% of households used it.
• Major increases were also seen in access to treatments and diagnostic tests.

Despite significant progress in 2010, a possible shortfall in malaria funding threatens the significant progress the world has made in the fight against malaria.

"We need a fully-funded Global Fund, new donors, and endemic countries to come together to address the vast challenges that lie ahead. Millions of bed nets will need replacement in the coming years, and the goal of universal access to diagnostic testing and effective treatment remains far from being realized," says Dr Robert Newman, Director of WHO's Global Malaria Programme. "We need to act with urgency and resolve to ensure that no-one dies from malaria for lack of a 5 dollar bed net, 1 dollar antimalarial drug and a 50 cent diagnostic test."

Read the full report and summary documents here.