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Africa is making progress by leaps and bounds in terms of driving the number of malaria deaths down by nearly fifty percent. Successful global and local anti-malaria campaigns especially in sub-Saharan Africa appear to have saved countless lives since the UN Millennium Development Goals were launched in 2000.

In a recently published malaria report by the World Health Organization (WHO), deaths from the mosquito-borne disease took the lives of 839, 000 back in 2000. The number significantly decreased by nearly half the number as malaria deaths were recorded at 438, 000 as reported by Scientific American.

Surprisingly, the tiny sub-Saharan African country of Swaziland is fast becoming a global inspiration for the world's continuing effort to eradicate malaria deaths completely.

In an article published on University of California San Francisco, Swaziland's recent successful campaign was attributed to the country's strong surveillance and response system. The country's success story is now being studied for extrapolating important lessons which could be emulated elsewhere.

So far, Africa remains to be the hardest-hit region in terms of malaria deaths worldwide but measures like spraying and mosquito nets did make a huge difference.

UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft felt confident that if the current upbeat is sustained, the world could be malaria-free in fifteen years' time.

"The world's success in rolling back malaria shows just what can be achieved with the right kind of determination and partnerships," told Lykketoft, as quoted saying by NewsOK.