Malaria

• World Health Organization recently released its Annual Malaria Report 2023.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• In 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases globally.
• Twenty-nine countries accounted for 95% of malaria cases globally.
  • Four countries, Nigeria (27%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12%), Uganda (5%), and Mozambique (4%), accounted for almost half of all malaria cases globally.
• Africa bears the highest malaria burden, accounting for 94% of cases and 95% of global malaria deaths in 2022.
• WHO targets to reduce malaria incidence and mortality rates by 75% in 2025 and 90% in 2030.
  • The world is off-track, with a 55% gap for 2025 incidence reduction and 53% for fatality rate reduction.
• WHO-recommended malaria vaccines RTS,S/AS01 and R21/ Matrix-M have shown promising results as per report.
• India specific findings
  • India accounted for 66% of malaria cases in the WHO SouthEast Asia Region.
  • India saw a 30% decline in malaria cases and 34% decline in deaths in 2022 as compared to 2021.

ABOUT MALARIA

• Malaria is a life-threatening mosquito borne blood disease caused by plasmodium parasites.
• 5 Plasmodium parasite species cause malaria in humans and 2 of these species – falciparum and P. vivax – pose the greatest threat.
• Malaria is majorly found in the tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, South America and Asia.
• Malaria is spread by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito.
• The parasites travel to the liver, mature, and then infect red blood cells.