BigstockThe WHO report found there were 229 million malaria cases globally in 2019Deaths from malaria due to disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic to services designed to tackle the mosquito-borne disease will far exceed those killed by Covid-19 in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization warned on Monday. More than 409,000 people globally - most of them babies in the poorest parts of Africa - were killed by malaria last year, the WHO said in its latest global malaria report, and Covid-19 will almost certainly make that toll higher in 2020. “Our estimates are that depending on the level of service disruption (due to Covid-19) ... there could be an excess of malaria deaths of somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 in sub-Saharan Africa, most of them in young children,” Pedro Alsonso, director of the WHO’s malaria programme, told reporters. Some of the African countries worst affected by malaria have struggled to make significant progress since 2016. Despite this, the focus of global funding and attention has been diverted, making preventable child deaths more likely.

Source: Dhaka Tribune November 30, 2020 00:00 UTC