By Morgane Danielou, Global Communications Manager, Target Malaria

Today the World Health Organization published its annual World Malaria Report. New data shows that countries around the world largely held the line against further setbacks to malaria prevention, testing and treatment services in 2021. Nevertheless, the report confirms that malaria remains a deadly threat to millions of people globally and that the fight against the disease is still at a precarious juncture.

There were an estimated 619,000 malaria deaths globally in 2021 compared to 625,000 in 2020 and 568, 000 in 2019. Malaria cases continued to rise between 2020 and 2021, but at a slower rate than in the period 2019 to 2020, with the global tally of malaria cases reaching 247 million last year.