The WHO warns that malaria deaths will be higher than Covid-19 in Africa
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LONDON – The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that malaria deaths will be higher than Covid-19 in sub-Saharan Africa. This condition occurs due to services to deal with diseases transmitted by mosquitoes which are disrupted by the pandemic that has occurred.
“It is likely that deaths from malaria are greater than direct deaths from Covid,” said WHO malaria program director, Pedro Alsonso, Monday (30/11).
The latest WHO global report describes more than 409 thousand people worldwide killed by malaria last year. Most of them are babies in the poorest parts of Africa. With Covid-19 happening, it will almost certainly make that number even higher in 2020.
“Our estimates depend on the level of service disruption (due to Covid-19). There could be more than 20,000 and 100,000 deaths from malaria somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly in children,” said Alsonso.
WHO found 229 million cases of malaria globally in 2019. Despite the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries around the world have struggled and survived the disease. “Long-term success in achieving a malaria-free world within a generation is far from certain,” Alsonso said.
Some of the worst-hit African countries have struggled to make significant progress since 2016. Ongoing malaria transmission through mosquitoes in many parts of the world, half the global population is at risk of contracting the disease. The focus of global funding and attention has shifted, leaving the possibility of preventable child deaths stifled.
The executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, Peter Sands, said the findings of the WHO report were very fitting. “Global health, media and politics are all fixated on Covid. But we don’t pay much attention to the disease that still kills more than 400,000 people every year, especially children, “he said.
source: Reuters
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