Can malaria be eliminated worldwide in the next 15 years? That’s the question Dr. Raj Panjabi is asking himself and his team six months into his role as the United States global malaria coordinator for the President’s Malaria Initiative.
The Liberian national who became a child refugee amid the civil war before settling in the U.S., co-founded the NGO, Last Mile Health, but stepped away as its CEO earlier this year. A physician, social entrepreneur, and professor, he was appointed to his new role by President Joe Biden in February.
It’s within his area of responsibility to work toward eliminating malaria worldwide. In 2019, 229 million cases of malaria worldwide were detected, while 409,000 lost their lives to the parasitic disease.