World Malaria Report

Context

The recently released World Malaria Report shows that the number of cases and deaths due to the mosquito-borne infection India have continued to decline.

About

Key Highlights of the Report:

Data shown: India saw a 30% decline in malaria cases and 34% decline in deaths in 2022 as compared to the previous year.
- Globally there were 5 million additional malaria cases in 2022 as compared to the previous year, totalling to 249 million.
- Of the 5 million additional cases, the highest 1 million was from Pakistan that had a flood in 2022.
- India accounted for 4% of total malaria cases in the world.

Factors responsible to increase Malaria:
- Climate Change Boosts Malaria Risks:Rising temperatures due to climate change expand areas suitable for malaria transmission, especially in the Himalayan belt.
- Extreme Weather Impacts:Extreme weather events, like heavy rainfall, can indirectly worsen malaria by hindering healthcare access; better planning is crucial.

Challenges for India:
- Vivax Malaria Predicament: Vivax malaria, constituting over 40% of cases in India, poses a challenge due to its recurring nature hiding in the liver.
- Incomplete Treatment Issue: Treating vivax malaria requires a 14-day therapy, but many stop medication once symptoms alleviate, hindering complete recovery.
Recommendations:
- To achieve the malaria elimination target of 2030, there has to be emphasis on strengthening of surveillance as well as tailoring of malaria interventions at sub-national level which should be data driven.
- In addition updating policies and adopting new tools as per national and subnational need in line with WHO’s guidance is critical.

The Statistical data (India-specific):

With an estimated 33.8 lakh cases and 5,511 deaths, India saw a decline of 30 per cent in malaria incidence and 34 per cent in mortality in 2022, compared to the previous year.
The number of malaria cases had dropped from 243 million to 233 million globally between 2000 and 2019. However, there was an increase of 11 million cases in 2020.
They remained stable in 2021, before seeing another increase of 5 million in 2022 to 249 million.
The number of malaria deaths also remained higher than the pre-pandemic levels. There were 608,000deaths reported in 2022 as compared to 576,000 cases in 2019.