The 2017 World malaria report presents a comprehensive state of play in global progress in the fight against malaria up to the end of 2016. It tracks progress in investments in malaria programmes and research, malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment, surveillance, trends in malaria disease burden, malaria elimination, and threats in tackling malaria and safeguarding the investments made.

 This year’s report comes 1 year after the launch of three time-bound milestones to accelerate progress towards malaria control and elimination: the WHO Global technical strategy for malaria 2016–2030 (GTS); the Roll Back Malaria advocacy plan, Action and investment to defeat malaria 2016-2030 (AIM); and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with Target 3.3 focused on AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases.

 The GTS and AIM are aligned with the SDGs, with targets set for the years 2020, 2025 and 2030, compared with a baseline of 2015. For malaria, achieving SDG Target 3.3 by 2030 is interpreted as the attainment of the GTS and AIM targets.

 The primary sources of information for this year’s edition of the World malaria report are reports from 94 countries. This information is supplemented by data from nationally representative household surveys and databases held by other partner organizations.