Geneva: Ahead of World Malaria Day on Friday, April 25, the World Health Organization (WHO) today called for revitalized global efforts to end the disease, launching the “Malaria Ends with Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite” campaign to accelerate progress towards elimination, warning that funding cuts and rising challenges threaten decades of gains.
WHO, alongside the Roll Back Malaria Partnership to End Malaria, highlighted that the disease claims one life every minute, with the African Region bearing 95 per cent of the global burden, reporting nearly 600,000 deaths in 2023. The campaign, set to mark World Malaria Day 2025, urges reinvestment in proven interventions, reimagining strategies to overcome obstacles, and reigniting collective efforts at all levels, from global policy to community action, according to WHO officials.
Since the late 1990s, global collaboration has prevented 2.2 billion malaria cases and 12.7 million deaths, with 45 countries and one territory certified malaria-free by the WHO. Of the 83 malaria-endemic countries, 25 reported fewer than 10 cases in 2023. However, progress has stalled, with extreme weather, conflict, and economic stresses disrupting services in many regions, leaving millions without access to prevention, detection, and treatment, the World Health Organization stated.
New interventions are driving progress, with Mali joining 19 African countries on Thursday to roll out malaria vaccines, expected to save tens of thousands of young lives annually. The use of next-generation insecticide-treated nets has risen, accounting for 80 per cent of nets delivered in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, up from 59 per cent the previous year, as per the World Malaria Report.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The history of malaria teaches us a harsh lesson: when we divert our attention, the disease resurges, taking its greatest toll on the most vulnerable.” He emphasised that with political commitment, sustained investment, and community engagement, the disease can be defeated.
The World Health Organization warned that 2025 funding cuts could derail progress, with over half of the 64 WHO Country Offices in malaria-endemic regions reporting disruptions to services. Challenges like drug and insecticide resistance, fragile health systems, climate change, conflict, poverty, and displacement further complicate efforts, it noted.
The campaign calls for increased domestic spending in endemic countries, particularly in primary health care, and support for the Global Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to finance malaria programmes. It also stresses the need for innovative tools, including new antimalarial drugs, diagnostics, insecticides, vaccines, and vector control methods.
African Ministers of Health from 11 high-burden countries, through the Yaoundé Declaration signed on March 6, 2024, in Cameroon, committed to ending malaria deaths by boosting domestic funding, strengthening health systems, and enhancing multisectoral action. Dr Daniel Ngamije, Director of the World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme, stated, “This is the kind of leadership the world must rally behind.”
WHO underscored that ending the disease caused by malarial parasite is an investment in a more equitable, safer, and prosperous future, urging global recommitment to prevent history from repeating the 1960s, when abandoned eradication efforts led to millions of deaths over three decades.
– global bihari bureau
