2023 World Malaria Report, recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO), sheds light on the alarming malaria situation in India and globally.
Key Highlights of the Report
Global Malaria Overview
- The 2023 World Malaria Report reveals a global surge with an estimated 249 million cases in 2022, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
- Covid-19 disruptions, drug resistance, humanitarian crises, and climate change pose threats to the global malaria response.
- 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.
India’s Malaria Scenario
- In 2022, India accounted for a staggering 66% of malaria cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region.
- Plasmodium vivax, a protozoal parasite, contributed to almost 46% of cases in the region.
- Despite a 55% reduction in cases since 2015, India remains a significant contributor to the global malaria burden.
- India faces challenges, including a surge in cases in 2023 linked to unseasonal rainfall.
- India and Indonesia accounted for about 94% of all malaria deaths in the WHO South-East Asia Region.
Regional Impact
- Africa bears the highest malaria burden, accounting for 94% of cases and 95% of global malaria deaths in 2022.
- The WHO South-East Asia Region, including India, managed to contain malaria over the last two decades, with a 77% reduction in cases and deaths since 2000.
Climate Change and Malaria
- Climate change emerges as a major driver, affecting malaria transmission and overall burden.
- Changing climate conditions enhance the sensitivity of the malaria pathogen and vector, facilitating its spread.
- WHO emphasizes the substantial risk climate change poses to malaria progress, necessitating sustainable and resilient responses.
Global Eradication Goals
- WHO aimed 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.
Challenges in Malaria Eradication
- Funding gaps for malaria control increased from USD 2.3 billion in 2018 to USD 3.7 billion in 2022.
- Research and development funding hit a 15-year low at USD 603 million, raising concerns about innovation and progress.
Malaria Vaccine Advancements and Achievements
- The report emphasizes notable progress in malaria prevention through the phased introduction of the WHO-recommended malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01, in African nations.
- Rigorous evaluations in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi reveal a significant decrease in severe malaria and a 13% reduction in early childhood deaths, affirming the vaccine’s effectiveness.
- This achievement, combined with existing interventions like bed nets and indoor spraying, forms a comprehensive strategy, leading to improved overall outcomes in these regions.
- In October 2023, WHO recommended a second safe and effective malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M.
- The availability of two malaria vaccines is expected to increase supply and make broad-scale deployment across Africa possible.
Call for Action
- WHO emphasizes the need for a substantial pivot in the fight against malaria, calling for increased resources, strengthened political commitment, data-driven strategies, and innovative tools.
- Sustainable and resilient malaria responses aligning with climate change mitigation efforts are deemed essential for progress.
Malaria
- Malaria is a life-threatening mosquito borne blood disease caused by plasmodium parasites.
- There are 5 Plasmodium parasite species that cause malaria in humans and 2 of these species – P. falciparum and P. vivax – pose the greatest threat.
- Malaria is predominantly found in the tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, South America as well as Asia.
- Malaria is spread by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito.
- The mosquito becomes infected after biting an infected person. The malaria parasites then enter the bloodstream of the next person the mosquito bites. The parasites travel to the liver, mature, and then infect red blood cells.
- Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Notably, malaria is both preventable and curable.