The international community should redouble its efforts to fight malaria, which continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people every year, mostly in Africa and mostly children.
The World Health Organization, however, welcomed the stabilization of the number of infections and deaths in 2021, after a disastrous year in 2020. The covid-19 pandemic had then upended all malaria prevention, protection and treatment campaigns.
But in its new annual report, the WHO also stressed thatigorious obstacles must be overcome: lack of funding, the potential impact of climate change and mutations in the parasite that causes malaria, which make the disease resistant to treatment.
According to the organization, the world is "off course" that would allow it to reduce infections and deaths by 90% by 2030 compared to 2015. To achieve this goal, funding will need to double, the WHO stressed.
Last year, total funding for the fight against malaria reached $3.5 billion.
Last year, total funding for the fight against malaria reached $3.5 billion. This is up on the previous two years, but short of the $7.3 billion needed.
Nevertheless, WHO head Tedros Adanom Gebrejus appeared optimistic: "there are reasons to dream of a malaria-free future," he said.
Africa, the martyr continent
Africa[/B] accounts for 95% of malaria infections and 96% of deaths.
After a dramatic drop in the number of deaths between 2000 and 2019, there was a 10% rise in 2020 (reaching 625.000), before the number dropped again slightly last year (619,000 deaths).
The WHO welcomed the fact that many countries managed to maintain the same level or even increase diagnostic tests and treatment provision for malaria during the pandemic, despite problems in the supply chain.
In 2020, countries distributed record numbers of insecticide insect repellents, the key tool in the battle against malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and maintained a good distribution last year.
Countries where malaria is endemic also distributed record numbers of diagnostic tests.
Vaccine
In addition, a vaccine has now come to boost the fight against the disease: the RTS, S, which has already been given to more than one million children, will be widely available next year.
Abdisalan Noor, of the Global Malaria Control Programme at the WHO, estimated that it is still too early to estimate how many lives will be saved with the vaccine.
But "we expect a significant impact on serious diseases and deaths," he said.
In addition to funding, other challenges remain.
"Malaria is not a stable disease," said Peter Sands, director of the Global Fund, which provides 63 percent of funding for malaria control programs.
"Parasites evolve to resist and mosquitoes adapt and become more resistant to insecticides, or bite their victims earlier in the day," he explained, warning that "climate change is contributing to the spread of malaria in areas previously thought to be safe."
Source: APM
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