Dec 7, 2021
Malaria cases rose in 2020, as did death from the disease--by 12%. What caused this?
Transcript
This week, the WHO published its annual World Malaria Report, and
the headline figures are stark. There were an estimated 241 million
cases of malaria in 2020, up 14 million from the year before.
627,000 of these cases resulted in death, up 12% from the year
before. This uptick in death is attributed largely to COVID, with
less access to controls and prevention, like bed nets, indoor
residual spraying and preventative drug treatment. In the early
stages of the pandemic, the WHO warned of a ‘worst case scenario’
for malaria in which deaths could double due to service disruption.
Yet, the collaborative effort of countries and partners averted
this situation and minimised the disruption. Since 2000, global
efforts have reduced malaria death rates by half and saved 10.6
million lives.
Source
World malaria report 2021
About The Podcast
The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and share with the global community.