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GENEVA – Progress in eliminating malaria has stalled in recent years, the World Health Organization said on Monday, with an estimated more than 400,000 people having died again from the disease last year.
In its 2020 World Malaria Report, the WHO said progress against the mosquito-borne disease was stagnating, particularly in African countries that bear the brunt of cases and deaths.
In 2019, the global malaria case count was estimated at 229 million, a figure that has been at the same level for the past four years.
Meanwhile, the death toll, once rapidly declining, has stagnated for the past two years.
After falling steadily from 736,000 in 2000, the disease claimed approximately 411,000 lives in 2018 and 409,000 in 2019.
“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.
Call to arms
The UN health agency said a funding shortfall posed a “significant threat,” with just $ 3 billion from a target of $ 5.6 billion raised in 2019.
“The funding shortage has caused critical gaps in access to proven malaria control tools,” he said.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, countries have recently begun adopting personalized responses based on local data and intelligence, in an attempt to keep the pressure on malaria.
More than 90 percent of the disease burden is in Africa. The continent caused an estimated 384,000 deaths from malaria last year.
“It is time for the leaders of Africa, and the world, to once again face the challenge of malaria,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Through joint action and a commitment to leave no one behind, we can achieve our shared vision of a malaria-free world,” said the former Ethiopian health minister.
In 2019, four countries accounted for almost half of all malaria cases globally: Nigeria (27 percent); the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12 percent); Uganda (five percent) and Mozambique (four percent).
Coronavirus concerns
The WHO report found that most of the malaria prevention campaigns were carried out without major delays during the coronavirus pandemic.
But there were concerns that with efforts to address the stagnation of the disease, the current COVID-19 crisis could impede further progress.
“Covid-19 threatens to further derail our efforts to overcome malaria, in particular to treat people with the disease,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
“Despite the devastating impact that Covid-19 has had on African economies, international partners and countries must do more to ensure that resources are available to expand the malaria programs that are making a difference.”
The WHO said that even a moderate interruption in access to malaria treatment could lead to considerable loss of life.
Their report said that a 10 percent disruption in access to effective treatment in sub-Saharan Africa could lead to an additional 19,000 deaths.
World progress
The report said that 21 countries had eliminated malaria in the past two decades.
Outside of Africa, he said India had continued to make impressive strides in the past two years, with an 18 percent reduction in cases and a 20 percent reduction in deaths.
And despite the ongoing threat of antimalarial drug resistance, the six countries in the Greater Mekong subregion of Southeast Asia were making significant progress toward their goal of eliminating malaria by 2030, he said.
The reported number of malaria cases in the subregion decreased by 90% between 2000 and 2019. -French Media Agency
