Malaria deaths fall 60% since 2000

In the last 15 years the death rate for under-fives fell by 65 percent, with the report estimating this means 5.9 million children’s lives were saved.

“But it is also important to point out that malaria still remains a disease of poverty and that millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly from the poorest households in remote rural areas, still do not have access to insecticide-treated nets or effective treatment”, he said. This is followed by Artemisinin-based combination therapies and indoor residual spraying, contributing to the prevention of malaria cases since 2000. But the lead researcher behind the study, Dr Peter Gething, points out that there’s still more to be done.

Malaria is a tropical disease that is spread by mosquitoes.

Malaria deaths have dropped by 60 percent and cases by 37 percent, thereby halting and reversing the devastation caused by this ancient killer, the report said. The latest estimates suggest that two thirds of young children now sleep under the nets.

This study was published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

A new 15-year plan was put in place in May 2015 with the aim of achieving a further 90 percent reduction in cases of malaria and deaths related to the disease by 2030.

An increasing number of countries are on the verge of eliminating malaria.

“Global malaria control is one of the great public health success stories of the past 15 years”, WHO director-general Margaret Chan said about the recent achievement towards stopping the fatalities of malaria. “So the best way to celebrate global progress…is to recommit ourselves to reaching and treating them”, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. In the same way, Africa still accounts 80 percent of cases and 78 percent of deaths, according to BBC.

Between 2000 and 2015, the proportion of children under 5 sleeping under an ITN in sub-Saharan Africa increased from less than 2% to an estimated 68%.

The report “Achieving the malaria MDG target” will be launched on 17 September at 12h00 (BST) / 13h00 (CEST) in the House of Commons in London, United Kingdom. The WHO-UNICEF report said that annual funding for the anti-malaria campaign will need to triple, from $2.7 billion now to $8.7 billion in 2030, to meet that goal.