More malaria cases and deaths in 2020 linked to Covid-19
New data from the World Health Organization revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted malaria services, leading to a marked increase in cases and deaths
According to WHO’s latest World malaria report, there were an estimated 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2020. This represents about 14 million more cases in 2020 compared to 2019, and 69,000 more deaths. Approximately two-thirds of these additional deaths (47,000) were linked to disruptions in the provision of malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment during the pandemic.
However, the situation could have been far worse. In the early days of pandemic, WHO had projected that – with severe service disruptions – malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa could potentially double in 2020. But many countries took urgent action to shore up their malaria programmes, averting this worst-case scenario.
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry the heaviest malaria burden, accounting for about 95 per cent of all malaria cases and 96 per cent of all deaths in 2020. About 80 per cent of deaths in the region are among children under five years of age.
The pandemic struck at a point when global progress against malaria had already plateaued. By around 2017, there were signs that the phenomenal gains made since 2000 – including a 27 per cent reduction in global malaria case incidence and a nearly 51 per cent reduction in the malaria mortality rate – were stalling.
New vaccine could help decrease malaria deaths
“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, global gains against malaria had levelled off,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Thanks to the hard work of public health agencies in malaria-affected countries, the worst projections of Covid's impact have not come to pass. Now, we need to harness that same energy and commitment to reverse the setbacks caused by the pandemic and step up the pace of progress against this disease.”
Since 2015, the baseline date for WHO’s global malaria strategy, 24 countries have registered increases in malaria deaths. In the 11 countries that carry the highest burden of malaria worldwide, cases increased from 150 million in 2015 to 163 million cases in 2020, and malaria deaths increased from 390,000 to 444,600 over that same period.
Innovation in new tools is a critical strategy for accelerating progress. One important new prevention tool is RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S), the first vaccine ever to be recommended by WHO against a human parasite. In October 2021, WHO recommended RTS,S for children living in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission.