A group from the University of Washington has come out with mortality numbers for malaria which are considerably higher than current estimates published by WHO. This study also claims that India's malaria burden is grossly underestimated and that this country contributes greatly to global malaria burden.

In many of the places where malaria is most prevalent the cause of death listed on death certificates (if they have them) is not always accurate. This new study incorporates verbal autopsy data. This data is collected by interviewing family members about the symptoms of a patient before death.

I'm sure that WHO has underestimated, but I'm not so sure about these new estimates either. "With those studies, other kinds of fill-in-the-gap indicators and a lot of fancy extrapolation, the team has come up with what it calls "the most systematic assessment to date of malaria mortality."

I'm always weary of "fancy extrapolation".

Decide for yourself:

LOOK AT THE FINDINGS ON THE U OF WASHINGTON GROUPS WEBSITE http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/tools/data-visualization/deaths-due-malaria-age-region-country-and-year-global-1980-2010

NPR STORY ON NEW ESTIMATES http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/02/02/146303865/researchers-say-malaria-deaths-are-twice-the-official-count?ps=sh_sthdl