New data from International SOS global assistance reports a 15% increase in malaria-related assistance requests in 2023 compared with 2022. The data reveals that 57% of cases were concentrated in Asia, primarily impacting the mining industry, while 40% occurred in Africa, mainly affecting oil and gas, mining, and NGO personnel. These figures align with data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which demonstrates that both the Africa region and the Southeast Asia region have the highest estimated malaria burden globally. WHO also conservatively projects 250,000 additional yearly deaths by the 2030s due to climate change impacts on diseases including malaria.

Dr Irene Lai, Global Medical Director at International SOS, commented: “All organisations with travellers to or operations in areas with malaria should assess the risk and ensure they have policies and procedures in place to mitigate that risk. This includes providing pre-travel education and medical consultations, mosquito-bite prevention supplies and preventive medications (chemoprophylaxis) and ensuring access to prompt diagnosis and treatment. Through the provision of malaria awareness programmes, bed nets and contribution to mosquito control activities, organisations can create a healthier and more productive environment for both their employees and the surrounding communities.”

Dr Dave Knight, Occupational Medicine Physician and Malaria Specialist at International SOS, added: “Malaria transmission patterns are demonstrably shifting, with climate change as a significant factor we must consider. It is predicted with climate change that this risk could grow, and malaria transmission could spread into countries previously free of malaria … We are also seeing growing mosquito resistance to insecticides and the first troubling reports from Africa of potential parasite resistance to current malaria treatment.”

Despite this, he went on to point out: “On a positive note, the new RTS,S vaccine is being rolled out in high-transmission areas in Africa to infants and young children. It is not suitable for adults yet provides moderate but important protection to very young children over the first few years of life. It has recently been shown that new types of insecticide-treated bed nets that combine two compounds to counter resistance are 50% more effective at preventing malaria.”

Earlier in 2024, WHO declared the African archipelago nation of Cabo Verde to be malaria-free.