WASHINGTON - An expanded World Bank malaria program has shown major progress in fighting the mosquito-borne disease, but more funding is needed if a target of reducing the disease by 75 percent by 2010 is to be reached, the bank's head for Africa said on Thursday.

Two years since the launch of the Malaria Booster program, the World Bank has approved almost half a billion dollars for malaria programs in countries covering about 240 million people, including more than 42 million children under the age of 5 and nearly 10 million pregnant women.

As the bank takes stock of how effective the program is, Obiageli Ezekwesili, the bank's vice president for Africa, said there is evidence malaria cases are falling in some countries, including malaria-ridden states like Zambia where infections are at a record low.

"Clearly that is progress," she told Reuters.

Such progress, not only in Zambia, but also in Eritrea, Rwanda and Ethiopia, is forcing the bank and others to look closer at what is still necessary to eventually eradicate malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that kills more than a million people a year in Africa.

By the end of 2007, the World Bank program will help to distribute nearly 20 million bed nets and more than 15 million doses of artemisinin-based combination therapy.

Ezekwesili said much of the success in fighting the disease has been in building malaria programs into a country's development strategy and strengthening its broader health system.

Also, the battle has been boosted by increased attention and funding from groups such as the Gates Foundation and the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

MORE AID NEEDED

Still, despite the funding boost given to fight malaria, Ezekwesili said it still "doesn't scratch the surface."

Bank figures show an additional $3 billion is needed each year to effectively fight malaria, far more than the current $800 million.

"We're seeing more countries are prioritizing their budgets to malaria-prevention related commitments," Ezekwesili said.

"But a funding gap remains and it needs to be filled. There is no reason for people to die of malaria when it can be avoided. There is no room for donor inertia," she added.

In countries such as Nigeria, Benin and Zambia, malaria accounts for as much as 40 percent of public health spending and up to 60 percent of outpatient visits, said Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian education minister.

The disease carries a heavy cost for Africa of about $12 billion annually in lost gross domestic product, slowing GDP growth by as much as 1.3 percent annually.