The situation of malaria in the world has not yet returned in 2021 to its pre-pandemic state. But after a rise in deaths in 2020 due to prevention disruptions, the number has fallen back a bit in 2021.
In total, it stood at less than 620,000, against 625,000 the previous year, said the report published Thursday in Geneva by the World Health Organization (WHO). But it remains far from the 560,000 around before the coronavirus.
In contrast, the number of new cases expanded from 245 to 247 million. But the progression is much less significant than at the start of the pandemic when it had reached 13 million additional infections over one year.
‘Countries affected by malaria have redoubled their efforts and have been able to mitigate the worst impacts’, said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who mentions ‘many challenges’. For his part, the organization’s interim head of the global malaria program Pascal Ringwald speaks of a number of ‘converging threats’ to efforts against the disease. But despite the disruptions, most countries have been able to maintain testing and support during the pandemic.
Africa mostly affected
As always, the pathology is observed especially in Africa. With nearly 240 million cases and around 593,000 deaths, this region gathered 95% of contaminations and 96% of new victims.
According to the WHO, service disruptions during the first two years of the pandemic caused 63,000 additional deaths and 13 million infections. Despite a slowdown over the past few years, the incidence has largely fallen in the past twenty years, by more than a quarter to reach 59 per thousand inhabitants exposed to the threat of malaria.
Likewise, the death rate has halved, to less than 15 per 100,000 people. But these two figures are 48% lower than the target that had been established. For 2020 and 2021 alone, more than 350 million cases have been prevented, as well as nearly 2 million deaths.
And yet, the objective of reducing prevalence and deaths by 90% by 2030 remains far from being achieved. The first seems achievable but the second will have to be fought for, admits a WHO official.
The organization launched an initiative in 2021 to support 25 countries and territories to eliminate malaria by 2025. A 30% increase in cases in these regions has, however, been observed, even though almost two thirds of these territories continue their progress towards this goal. Nearly thirty countries observed fewer than ten cases in 2021.
Vaccination expected in 2023
2021 has also accelerated the uptake of the first malaria vaccine in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. Nearly 370,000 children have been immunized. Dozens of African countries in total now want to use it and a few of them will launch campaigns in 2023 that are expected to reach millions of people.
Other vaccines are being produced and new tests should improve the effectiveness of prevention and care. Climate change has an effect on vulnerable populations already exposed to malaria and a spread to regions that no longer have cases cannot be ruled out, says the WHO official.
The organization is still calling for increased investment against malaria. Funding increased last year to about $3.5 billion, but $7.3 billion is needed. And by 2030, it will take nearly 10 billion francs.
/ATS