In December 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its “World Malaria Report 2024 : Addressing inequity in the global malaria response”, highlighting a concerning increase in the global malaria cases. This year’s report provides an up-to-date summary to control and eliminate the disease in 83 countries worldwide.
- India has made notable development in combating malaria as revealed in the World Malaria Report 2023 by the WHO.
- India had exited the High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) group due to significant progress in 2024. Between 2017 and 2023, malaria cases in India decreased by 69%, from 6.4 million to 2 million while deaths reduced by 68% from 11,100 to 3,500.
About Malaria Disease:
i.Malaria is a life threatening disease transmitted through bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
ii.High-risk groups include infants, children under age of 5, pregnant women, travelers and individuals with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
iii.Five Plasmodium species cause malaria in humans: P. Falciparum, P. vivax , P. malariae, P. ovale and P. knowlesi.
iv.Malaria Vaccines: RTS,S/AS01 vaccine (2021) and R21/Matrix-M (2023 ).
Highlights of World Malaria Report 2024:
i.The WHO’s World Malaria Report 2024 reveals that in 2023, the majority of malaria deaths occurred in 4 countries: Nigeria (30.9%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11.3%), Niger (5.9%) and Tanzania (4.3%)
- Malaria deaths also increased to 597,000 in 2023, up from 578,000 in 2015 though the mortality rate has decreased since the COVID pandemic 2020.
- The country Ethiopia alone accounts for 4.5 million cases.
ii.In 2023, malaria cases surged to an estimated 263 million across 83 countries, up from 252 million in 2022 and 226 million in 2015.
iii.The WHO African Region continues to bear the effect of the disease accounting for approximately 94% of all malaria cases and 95% of deaths.
- Children under 5 years old represent 76% of the malaria deaths in the region.
- Worldwide, 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths were prevented from 2000 to 2023.
iv.However, increases of cases were reported in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (47.9%), Myanmar (45.1%) and Thailand (46.4%) respectively.
v.Countries showed reductions in cases: India (-9.6%), Bangladesh (-9.2%), Indonesia (-5.7%), and Nepal (-58.3%).
Insights of India:
i.In 2023, India accounted for half of all malaria cases in the WHO South East Asia Region(SEAR) emphasizing the scale of the challenge.
ii.In 2024, India exited the WHO’s High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) group due to significant reductions in malaria cases and mortality particularly in high endemic states.
- From 2000 to 2023, India’s malaria burden decreased by 82.4% from 22.8 million to 4 million while incidence dropped by 87% from 17.7 to 2.3 per 1,000 population in the global fight against malaria.
v.India’s approximately 2,038,000 reported cases represented 0.8% of the global malaria burden in 2023.
vi.Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets (ITNs) and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) have been key tools in malaria prevention.
Other Points:
i.WHO highlights the need for a more inclusive and effective response to reach those most vulnerable to the disease.
ii.WHO urges countries to prioritize primary health care as the foundation of equitable and efficient health systems.
iii.Countries are encouraged to adopt strategies that address the root causes of malaria by addressing gender inequities and other determinants of health.
Note: WHO’s Global Malaria Programme(GMP) coordinates efforts to control and eliminate malaria, guided by the “Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030.”
Malaria-Free Countries :
i.As of November 2024, 44 countries and one territory (Cabo Verde) have been certified malaria free by WHO, with several others on track to achieve this status.
ii.Among the 83 malaria endemic nations, 25 report fewer than 10 malaria cases annually, a significant increase from just 4 in 2000.
iii.Since 2015, 14 countries have been certified malaria free:
- Maldives (2015); Sri Lanka & Kyrgyzstan (2016); Paraguay & Uzbekistan (2018); Argentina & Algeria (2019); China & El Salvador (2021); Azerbaijan, Tajikistan & Belize (2023) and Cabo Verde & Egypt (2024).
