World Health Organisation has said India made impressive gains in the global fight against malaria, recording the largest reduction in cases in South-East Asia from 20 million in 2000 to about 5.6 million last year.
According to the World Malaria Report 2020, in 2019, malaria cases globally numbered about 229 million, an annual estimate that has remained virtually unchanged over the last four years. Last year, the disease claimed about 409,000 lives, compared to 411,000 in 2018.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the report’s forward, “Countries in South-East Asia made particularly strong progress, with reductions in cases and deaths of 73 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively. India contributed to the largest drop in cases region-wide from approximately 20 million to about 6 million.” The report said that the WHO South-East Asia Region accounted for about 3 per cent of the burden of malaria cases globally.
Malaria cases reduced by 73 per cent in the region, from 23 million in 2000 to about 6.3 million in 2019. The World Health Organisation noted the impressive gains made by India in the fight against malaria, with reductions in cases and deaths of 18 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, over the last two years.
India also recorded a decrease in the number of deaths from malaria between 2000 and 2019. Malaria deaths in India declined from about 29,500 in 2000 to about 7,700 last year, the report added. In the WHO South-East Asia Region, malaria deaths reduced by 74 per cent, from about 35,000 in 2000 to 9,000 in 2019.
The WHO is calling on countries and global health partners to step up the fight against malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Good show by India.