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16 December 2024
Each year, the World malaria report serves as a vital tool to assess progress and gaps in the fight against malaria. The 2024 report, published on 11 December, provides an up-to-date snapshot of efforts to control and eliminate the disease in 83 countries worldwide. This year's report features, for the first time, a special chapter emphasizing the need for inclusive action to protect those most vulnerable to malaria – communities living in poverty, children and pregnant women, displaced and marginalized populations, and other hard-to-reach groups.
Key takeaways and insights from the 2024 malaria report
WHO’s latest malaria report offers a mix of hope and urgency. To date, 44 countries and 1 territory have been certified malaria-free. In 2023, 25 countries reported fewer than 10 cases of malaria, with many others progressing steadily toward elimination. However, malaria remains a formidable public health challenge, claiming the lives of an estimated 597 000 people in 2023 alone. Weak health systems, chronic funding shortages, conflicts, insecticide and drug resistance, and climate shocks are among the obstacles countries face as they work to lower the disease burden. Learn more about the report’s key findings in our briefing kits, microsite and Q&A.
Global briefing kit | Regional briefing kit | Q&A with lead author | Microsite
Seventeen countries in Africa, with roughly 70% of the global malaria burden, now offer malaria vaccines sub-nationally through their routine childhood immunization programmes. Since 2023, more than 12 million vaccine doses co-funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and countries, have been procured and delivered by UNICEF to these countries. The vaccine rollout and continued scale-up in Africa is a critical step forward in the fight against one of the continent’s deadliest diseases.
According to the latest World malaria report, malaria parasites with pfhrp2 gene deletions have been identified in 41 countries as of 2023. Such parasites undermine the accuracy of rapid diagnostic test results, threatening the lives of malaria patients. This second edition of a response plan is informed by the outcomes of a WHO technical consultation in January 2023. It draws upon country experiences and modelling to predict the evolution of this challenge to global malaria control.
Response plan to pfhrp2 gene deletions | Surveillance protocol
In 2022, WHO introduced a strategy to address the growing threat of antimalarial drug resistance in Africa. The strategy's fourth pillar calls for innovative approaches to prolong the lifespan of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) by using currently available drugs in ways that minimize the risk of resistance. One such approach is the use of multiple first-line therapies (MFT). This implementation guide offers malaria programmes clear guidance by defining MFT, reviewing their impact on resistance, assessing policy and implementation considerations, and identifying evidence gaps to inform future research.
The WHO guidelines for malaria bring together the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for malaria in one easy-to-navigate online platform. This revised version of the guidelines, published on 30 November, includes:
- updated recommendation for malaria vaccines
- new recommendations on the use of near-patients qualitative and semiquantitative G6PD tests to guide anti-relapse treatment of P. vivax and P. ovale
- updated recommendations on primaquine
- a recommendation on the use of tafenoquine
