- 282M cases and 610,000 deaths recorded last year, finds report

GENEVA

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that wider use of new malaria tools, including dual-ingredient nets and WHO-recommended vaccines, helped prevent an estimated 170 million cases and 1 million deaths in 2024.

WHO-endorsed innovations are increasingly being incorporated into routine health systems. Since the first malaria vaccines were approved in 2021, 24 countries have rolled them into national immunization programs, according to findings released in the agency’s annual World Malaria Report. Seasonal malaria chemoprevention has also expanded to reach 54 million children in 2024, up from about 0.2 million in 2012.

Progress toward elimination continued, with 47 countries and one territory certified malaria-free to date. Cabo Verde and Egypt achieved certification in 2024, and Georgia, Suriname, and Timor-Leste followed in 2025, the report said.

Despite these gains, the report estimated 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths in 2024, roughly 9 million more cases than the previous year. About 95% of deaths occurred in the WHO African Region, mostly among children aged under 5.

"New tools for prevention of malaria are giving us new hope, but we still face significant challenges," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "Increasing numbers of cases and deaths, the growing threat of drug resistance, and the impact of funding cuts all threaten to roll back the progress we have made over the past two decades. However, none of these challenges is insurmountable."

The report highlighted partial resistance to artemisinin derivatives, confirmed or suspected in at least eight African countries, and warned of declining drug efficacy. It also cited challenges, including pfhrp2 gene deletions affecting rapid tests, pyrethroid resistance in 48 countries, the spread of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, extreme weather events, conflict, and plateauing global funding, which reached $3.9 billion in 2024, less than half the 2025 target.

"The World Malaria Report is clear: drug resistance is advancing. Our response must be equally clear — new medicines with new mechanisms of action," Martin Fitchet, the CEO of Medicines for Malaria Venture, said.

WHO urged endemic countries to maintain commitments outlined in the Yaounde Declaration and accelerate action under the Big Push initiative to safeguard progress toward a malaria-free future.