Malaria kills approximately two million people a year, some 90 percent of them in Africa. These numbers come close to the estimated three million worldwide dying of AIDS. The two diseases differ in many ways, but there are deadly similarities. In both cases, action falls far behind promises, while debates about strategy are used as excuses for failure to provide resources. In the case of malaria, at stake are both availability of resources and willingness to adopt new, more effective drugs to replace ones that are now ineffective. Both concerns raise issues of political will, says a recent edition of the Africa Focus Bulletin.