World Malaria Day: Renewing our commitment to end malaria in Africa
World Malaria Day: Renewing our commitment to end malaria in Africa
Tags: Africa, Malaria, PolicyDamaris Matoke-Muhia, Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research, 2025.
As the world marks World Malaria Day this week, we are reminded that malaria remains one of the oldest and deadliest diseases in human history. Despite decades of global effort, it continues to claim half a million lives each year. The overwhelming majority of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is estimated that one person dies of the disease every minute. This year’s World Malaria Day theme: Malaria Ends with Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite is a reminder that we must renew our commitment to end malaria and rethink our approach to fighting the disease. The malaria burden in Africa remains unacceptably high. The impact of the disease extends beyond health. Malaria strains healthcare systems, reduces productivity, and hinders economic development. In many African countries, malaria-related absenteeism and healthcare costs place a significant burden on families and communities.
Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in the fight against malaria. Control programs involving the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, and artemisinin-based combination therapies have resulted in a decline in malaria infections and deaths. But several challenges now threaten these gains. Insecticide resistance is rising, making it harder to control mosquito populations with the tools we have relied on for decades. Antimalarial drug resistance is emerging in some regions, complicating treatment. Urban malaria is becoming a growing concern, in part due to the spread of species such as Anopheles stephensi, a mosquito native to parts of South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, which has been detected in several African countries. Climate change is shifting transmission dynamics, altering mosquito habitats and infection patterns, bringing malaria to new areas and intensifying the burden of the disease in regions where it was already present. By the 2030s, it is estimated that an additional 147 to 171 million additional Africans could be at risk of malaria.
