Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world
In recent years, progress in reducing malaria has ground to a standstill. Not only does malaria continue to directly endanger health and cost lives, but it also perpetuates a vicious cycle of inequity. People living in the most vulnerable situations including pregnant women, infants, children under 5 years of age, refugees, migrants, internally displaced people, and Indigenous Peoples continue to be disproportionately impacted.
Everyone has the right to quality, timely, and affordable services to prevent, detect, and treat malaria, yet this is not a reality for all.
Infants and young children continue to suffer the greatest mortality; in 2022, an estimated 4 out of 5 malaria-related deaths in the African Region were among children under 5 years of age. Inequities in access to education and financial resources further exacerbates risk: children under 5 years of age from the poorest households in sub-Saharan Africa are 5 times more likely to be infected with malaria than those from the wealthiest households.
Pregnancy reduces a woman’s immunity to malaria, making her more susceptible to infection and increasing her risk of severe disease and death. Gender inequalities, discrimination and harmful gender norms heighten her risk of contracting the disease. If untreated, malaria in pregnancy can cause severe anaemia, maternal death, stillbirth, premature delivery, and low-birth weight babies.
Refugees, migrants, internally displaced people, and Indigenous Peoples are also at higher risk of malaria and may disproportionately experience adverse conditions where malaria thrives.
Climate change and humanitarian emergencies, including natural disasters and conflicts in malaria-endemic countries, are displacing populations making them vulnerable to the disease. These and other at-risk groups continue to be excluded from the services they need to prevent, detect, and treat malaria, hindering progress on achieving the vision of a malaria-free world.
On World Malaria Day, let’s “Accelerate the fight against malaria for a more equitable world” through:
- Ending discrimination and stigma
- Engaging communities in health decision-making
- Bringing health care close to where people live and work through primary health care
- Addressing factors that increase malaria risk
- Including malaria control interventions in universal health coverage
Vigyan Setu Foundation 
Dear sir, This is very good information about Fight against Malaria. I enjoyed reading your article. Thanks for sending me this message.
Regards, Bheema Bhat
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Glad about this fight against malaria. my country is at risk (red in the map).
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