About 47 thousand people died in 2020 from malaria due to disruptions in the work of services to prevent this disease caused by the coronavirus pandemic. These data are presented in a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), published on Monday, December 6, in Geneva.
According to WHO estimates, last year about 241 million people fell ill with malaria and about 627 thousand died from the disease. Compared to 2019, the number of cases increased by 14 million, and the deaths – by 69 thousand, reports NSN…
“About two-thirds of these additional deaths (47 thousand) were attributed to disruptions during the pandemic. [коронавируса] in measures to prevent malaria, diagnosis and treatment “, – the document is quoted TASS…
The WHO noted that “the situation could be worse.” At the start of the pandemic, the organization predicted that in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of deaths from malaria would double due to disruptions to the health system. But many countries have taken urgent action to support programs to combat the disease, and this has helped prevent the worst-case scenario.
Earlier, on October 7, WHO recommended widespread use of the RTS, S / AS01 (RTS, S) vaccine for malaria among children in sub-Saharan Africa.
An article was published on September 23 stating that an international team of scientists had identified a resistant form of malaria in northern Uganda that could resist the drug.
Experts pointed to the possibility of cross-border spread across Africa in the future. Now, scientists are recommending that doctors fighting malaria should use three, not two, drugs in combination with artemisinin.
Earlier in July, experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine stressed that climate change has triggered a faster spread of mosquito-borne malaria and dengue fever. Several African countries, including Sudan and Eritrea, and South American Colombia, have seen a significant resurgence of malaria since the turn of the century, they said.
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