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The World Health Organization says interruptions in treatment could lead to tens of thousands of additional deaths.
Funding shortages and treatment interruptions in sub-Saharan Africa as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic put tens of thousands more lives at risk from malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in its annual report on the Mosquito-borne disease on Monday.
The UN health agency said it was concerned that even moderate interruptions in access to treatment could lead to “considerable loss of life.”
A 10 percent disruption in access to effective malaria treatment in sub-Saharan Africa could lead to an additional 19,000 deaths, according to the report. That number increased to 46,000 with a 25 percent access disruption and 100,000 with a 50 percent disruption.
“Progress has stalled,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “COVID-19 threatens to further derail our efforts to overcome malaria, particularly in treating people with the disease. Despite the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on African economies, international partners and countries must do more to ensure that resources are available to expand malaria programs that are making a difference in people’s lives. ” .
The latest WHO global report on malaria, which is preventable and treatable and primarily affects countries in Africa, shows that progress against the disease had already slowed when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged earlier this year.
The WHO says that the distribution of mosquito nets and other measures to prevent people from contracting malaria has continued even with COVID-19, but the pandemic has made it difficult for people to access treatment. [File: Yanick Folly/AFP]
In 2019, there were 229 million cases of malaria worldwide, an annual figure that has remained virtually unchanged for the past four years. Some 409,000 people died from the disease in 2019 compared to 411,000 in 2018.
The UN health agency says funding is part of the problem.
In 2000, African leaders signed the historic Abuja Declaration pledging to reduce malaria deaths on the continent by 50 percent over a 10-year period.
The political commitment was combined with a sharp increase in national and international funding that helped reduce the continent’s death toll from malaria by 44 percent.
Financing deficit
But funding shortages have led to gaps in access to malaria control measures, the WHO said, and the shortfall in 2019 was $ 3 billion compared to a target of $ 5.6 billion.
“Better targeting of interventions, new tools and increased funding are needed to change the global trajectory of the disease and achieve internationally agreed targets,” WHO said.
COVID-19 has emerged as an additional challenge because while most malaria prevention campaigns, such as treated nets, continued without delay, the pandemic makes it difficult for people with malaria to access the treatment they need.
According to the projections of the health agency, the 2020 global target for reducing the incidence of malaria cases will not be reached by 37 percent and the mortality reduction target will be missed by 22 percent.
WHO warns that the world will not meet the targets for malaria incidence and deaths in 2020 [File: AFP]
As well as urging increased spending, the WHO notes that its “high burden to high impact” (HBHI) response, which began in 2018, could help jump-start progress.
The 11 countries following the strategy, 10 of them in Africa, have adapted their responses to the disease based on local data and intelligence.
Although the review is still in its infancy, the report found that deaths in the 11 countries participating in the scheme fell from 263,000 to 226,000 between 2018 and 2019. India reported reductions in cases and deaths of 18 percent and 20 percent. percent, respectively, during the last two-year period.
The report shows that 21 countries have eliminated malaria in the last 20 years; of these, 10 countries have been officially certified as malaria-free by the WHO.
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