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The restrictions due to the pandemic caused the death toll from malaria in 2020 to increase compared to the previous year, but the number was lower than expected by WHO scientists. Urgent action by governments managed to minimize the figures, as stated by the World Health Organization in its World Malaria Report 2021.
Deaths from malaria increased in 2020 due to restrictions and other lockdowns caused by the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization, WHO. In his report, he highlights that despite the number of deaths, urgent action avoided a worse scenario than was initially predicted, where the number of deaths was expected to double in 2020.
The Covid-19 in any case reversed the advances that had been made to fight the disease. In 2020 the number of cases in the world reached 241 million, some 14 million more than in 2019. Also, deaths reached 627,000, some 69,000 more than in the previous year. The two-thirds increase in these deaths was due to the interruption of “malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment services during the pandemic,” WHO said.
WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement that “we need to harness that same energy and commitment to reverse the setbacks caused by the pandemic and accelerate the pace of progress against this disease.”
The critical situation in sub-Saharan Africa
In the 21st century there has been remarkable progress against malaria, according to the WHO, annual cases fell by 27% in 2017 and deaths have been reduced by 50%, but in sub-Saharan African countries the situation is not improving.
In this region of the world, 95% of cases occur, 96% of deaths also occur. 80% of the deceased are children under five years of age.
The region faces other challenges, said the WHO, such as: health care; the resistance of the parasite to the most widely used pharmacological treatments; the resistance of some mosquitoes to insecticides; and the relative effectiveness of disease diagnostic tests that detect only one class of parasite and not mutations. In addition, another factor is the spread of Anopheles stephensi, the mosquito that transmits the disease, to other towns and cities.
The WHO said 24 countries had registered an increase in deaths from malaria since 2015, the year in which the Organization’s global strategy against this disease began.
Angola, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sudan South, Sudan, Uganda, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Yemen are the hardest hit countries.
In the 11 most affected countries, cases increased from 150 million in 2015 to 163 million in 2020, while deaths increased from 39,000 to 444,600 during the same period, so “I think we are on the brink of a possible malaria crisis “said Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO Global Malaria Program.
Despite the disappointing figures, among the 93 countries and territories affected by malaria there was progress: in 30 the goal of reducing cases by 40% was achieved, in 40 the mortality rate was reduced by 40%.
China and El Salvador “were certified as malaria free in 2021”, Belize for the second consecutive year in 2020 registered zero cases, Iran achieved zero autochthonous cases of the disease for the third year.
With AFP and EFE
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