The number of malaria cases in 2020 was 14m higher than the previous year and led to 69,000 more deaths, the World Health Organization has said, highlighting the disruption to healthcare systems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The global health body, in a report published on Monday, said there were an estimated 241m cases globally last year and 627,000 deaths. About two-thirds of the 69,000 additional deaths were linked to problems in the provision of malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment during the pandemic, it said.
“While African countries rallied to the challenge and averted the worst predictions of fallout from Covid-19, the pandemic’s knock-on effect still translates to thousands of lives lost to malaria,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.