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WHO points out that 400,000 people still died last year from the disease, a relatively stable figure in recent years.
Progress in the fight against malaria has stalled in recent years, the World Health Organization warned on Monday, and some 400,000 people died again from the disease last year. WHO points out that this plateau is particularly notable in Africa, the continent that has the highest number of cases of the disease transmitted by female mosquitoes and the highest number of deaths, according to the report that the UN agency dedicates each year to this plague. year. In 2019, the number of new infections was around 229 million people, a relatively stable number over the past four years.
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After significant progress which saw the death toll drop from 736,000 in 2000 to 411,000 in 2018 and 409,000 in 2019, WHO notes that “Better targeted interventions, new tools and more funds to change the global trajectory of the disease and achieve common and internationally agreed goals”. As in many other areas, the agency notes that only half of the hoped-for funds, about $ 3 billion of the expected $ 5.6 billion, was raised in 2019. “The lack of funds causes a lack of access to the tools to fight malaria that have been demonstrated”, insists WHO and points out that this poses “A Significant Danger”.
Covid is not involved
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, affected countries have begun to implement more targeted actions based on local data in an effort to fight the disease. With around 94% of the total number of deaths (384,000 deaths from malaria on the African continent last year), “It is time for leaders across Africa – and the rest of the world – to take action once again to address the challenge of malaria.”, asked WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “By acting together and pledging not to leave anyone behind, we can achieve our common goal: eradicating malaria in the world”, He added. In 2019, four countries concentrated almost half of all cases in the world: Nigeria (27%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12%), Uganda (5%) and Mozambique 4%.
Unlike other campaigns, WHO believes that malaria prevention campaigns have not been held back by the Covid-19 pandemic for the time being, but the agency judges that “Covid-19 risks further derailing our efforts to defeat malaria, and in particular to treat the sick”, said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Despite the devastating impact of Covid-19 on African economies, international partners and countries must do more to ensure that the necessary resources are available to develop the anti-malaria programs that are making such a difference in people’s lives.”, she added.
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Even small interruptions in access to medicines, on the order of 10%, would result in 19,000 more deaths, the WHO calculated. The report noted that since 2000, 21 countries have successfully eradicated malaria. India has shown spectacular results over the past two years with an 18% decline in infections and a 20% decline in the death toll. Even more impressive is the progress of the six Mekong-bordered countries in Southeast Asia, which are well on their way to achieving their goal of eradicating the disease by 2030. They have managed to reduce the number of cases of the disease. 90% between 2000 and 2019.
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