Elimination of malaria had been neglected for nearly half a century until speeches by Bill and Melinda Gates in October 2007 put it back on the agenda, the international public health expert Richard Feachem claimed at a 17 June gathering in Washington, DC, that focused on US strategy in combating malaria around the world.

“Their call to arms has changed the nature of the international discussion in a very positive way,” said Sir Richard, now director of the Global Health Group at the University of California, San Francisco.

The United States is moving from …