The WHO has warned that there is no progress in the fight against malaria and that the number of deaths may rise as a result of the new crown

( Xinhua) -- The number of malaria and malaria-related deaths worldwide has not decreased significantly from 2016 to 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Nov. 30, with the number of malaria deaths likely to rise this year as the new crown outbreak takes up resources for medical services. In poor areas of Africa, there may even be more malaria deaths than there are new coronary deaths.
WHO's Global Malaria Report 2020, released on the same day, shows that 229 million malaria cases were reported globally in 2019, essentially at the same level since 2016;
, who heads WHO's antimalarial programme, told a press conference: "We estimate that depending on the extent to which medical services are affected ( due to the new crown) . . . The number of malaria-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa (this year) is likely to be between 20,000 and 100,000, mostly among young children. Those additional malaria deaths are likely to exceed those directly due to the new crown. The
report that many countries are working to overcome the challenges posed by the new crown outbreak and to control the rise in malaria cases, but that "it is difficult to ensure that the long-term goal of eliminating malaria worldwide within a generation is achieved".
Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said the WHO report was "extremely timely" because the global health system, the media and politics are currently focusing on the new crown outbreak and paying little attention to malaria. "And to remind you, this is a disease we know how to get rid of."
malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, with more than 90 per cent of malaria cases in Africa. African leaders pledged in 2000 to halve malaria deaths within 10 years and have so far succeeded in reducing malaria deaths by 44 per cent to 384,000 per year. However, with the reduction in investment funds, progress has not been evident in recent years. WHO called on countries to "strengthen the targeting of interventions, develop new tools and increase funding to change the global trajectory of malaria".