The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that Nigeria and 5 other countries accounted for approximately 50 percent of global malaria deaths in 2020.
In a report released recently, the WHO revealed that there was an estimated 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 malaria deaths, mostly of children below 5 years, worldwide in 2020.
The 2020 figure implies about 14 million more cases in 2020, compared to that of 2019, and 69,000 more deaths. Nigeria accounted for 27% of the deaths.
The report read: “About 96% of malaria deaths globally were in 29 countries. Six countries – Nigeria (27%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12%), Uganda (5%), Mozambique (4%), Angola (3%) and Burkina Faso (3%) – accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths globally in 2020.
“Twenty-nine countries accounted for 96% of malaria cases globally, and six countries – Nigeria (27%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12%), Uganda (5%), Mozambique (4%), Angola (3.4%) and Burkina Faso (3.4%) – accounted for about 55% of all cases globally.”
The report factored in the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic affected malaria services, and led to a significant increase in cases and deaths.
The WHO made it known that the situation could have been worse as there was a forecast that severe disruption could double malaria deaths in tropical Africa in 2020.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus said a lot of countries took immediate action to shore up their malaria programmes.
He said: “Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, global gains against malaria had levelled off.
“Thanks to the hard work of public health agencies in malaria-affected countries, the worst projections of COVID’s impact have not come to pass.
“Now, we need to harness that same energy and commitment to reverse the setbacks caused by the pandemic and step up the pace of progress against this disease.”
