World Malaria Day 2024
World Malaria Day, marked each year on 25 April, is an occasion to highlight the global efforts to end malaria and the need for sustained political commitment and continued investment for malaria control and elimination.
Through its 2024 theme “Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world”, the World Health Organization collaborates with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and other allies to spotlight obstacles to health equity, gender parity, and human rights within global efforts against malaria, alongside proposing tangible steps to address these challenges.
25th April 2024
According to the latest World Malaria Report, countries have made some progress in expanding access to malaria services for the most vulnerable populations. Still, too many people at high risk of malaria do not have access to quality, timely, and affordable malaria prevention, detection, and treatment services despite their right to them. Children under 5 years old, especially in the African Region, face the highest mortality rates, with inequities in education and financial resources exacerbating their risk. Pregnancy increases a woman’s vulnerability to malaria due to reduced immunity, compounded by gender inequalities and harmful norms. Refugees, migrants, displaced persons, and Indigenous Peoples are also disproportionately affected by malaria, often in adverse conditions where the disease thrives. Climate change and humanitarian crises further exacerbate the risk, displacing populations and hindering progress towards a malaria-free world.
World Malaria Day 2024 theme: ‘Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world’
On World Malaria Day, let’s strive to “Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world” by:
- Eradicating discrimination and stigma
- Involving communities in health policy-making
- Ensuring healthcare is accessible in local communities through primary healthcare services
- Tackling factors that heighten the risk of malaria
- Integrating malaria control measures into universal health coverage
Download the Malaria strategy 2016 – 2030 here: GLOBAL TECHNICAL STRATEGY MALARIA 2016 to 2030
Source: WHO World Malaria Day 2022
See the presentation from Jennifer Cain Birkmose (www.mmv.org) from the ExciPerience 2021 on why malaria is a very relevant topic:
See the full presentation of Jennifer Cain Birkmose here
Facts about malaria
What is malaria?
Malaria is a life-threatening disease transmitted to humans by certain species of mosquitoes. It occurs mainly in tropical countries. It is preventable and curable.
Risk groups and symptomps
The risk of severe infection is higher in the following groups of people: Babies, children younger than 5 years, pregnant women, travelers, and people with HIV or AIDS. The most common early symptoms of malaria are fever, headache and chills. Symptoms usually appear within 10-15 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Some types of malaria can cause severe illness and death. Severe symptoms include:
- extreme tiredness and fatigue
- impaired consciousness
- multiple convulsions
- difficulty breathing
- dark or bloody urine
- jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin)
- abnormal bleeding.
Malaria Prevention
Malaria can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites or taking medication. The risk of contracting malaria from mosquito bites can be reduced, for example by using mosquito nets and protective clothing.
Vector control: Is a vital component of malaria control and elimination strategies. WHO currently recommends either the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or indoor residual spraying (IRS) for malaria control in most malaria-prone areas. Complementary measures such as larviciding may be considered depending on the context and available resources.
Chemoprophylaxis: Travelers to malaria endemic areas should consult their physician several weeks before departure. The physician will determine which chemoprophylaxis medications are appropriate for the destination country. In some cases, chemoprophylaxis must be started 2-3 weeks before departure.
Preventive chemotherapies: Is the use of drugs, either alone or in combination, to prevent malaria infection and its consequences. It requires the administration of a full course of an antimalarial drug to vulnerable populations at specific times during the period of greatest malaria risk, regardless of whether the recipient is infected with malaria.
Vaccine: Beginning in October 2021, WHO recommends widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in children living in regions with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission. The vaccine has been shown to significantly reduce malaria and fatal severe malaria in young children.
Malaria Elimination
In 2021, 35 countries reported fewer than 1,000 indigenous cases of the disease, up from 33 countries in 2020 and only 13 countries in 2000. Countries that have reported no indigenous malaria cases for at least three consecutive years are eligible to apply for WHO’s malaria elimination certificate. Since 2015, nine countries have been certified malaria-free by the WHO Director-General, including the Maldives (2015), Sri Lanka (2016), Kyrgyzstan (2016), Paraguay (2018), Uzbekistan (2018), Argentina (2019), Algeria (2019), China (2021), and El Salvador (2021).
Countries and territories certified malaria-free by WHO
Ongoing measures are needed to prevent re-transmission.