LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — When a small number of locally transmitted malaria cases were found in the United States last year was a reminder that climate change is reviving or migrating the threat of some diseases. But across the African continent, malaria never disappeared, killing or sickening millions of people.
Let’s look at the case of Funmilayo Kotun, a 66-year-old resident of Makoko, an informal neighborhood in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. Its dirty water lagoons provide favorable breeding conditions for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Kotun cannot afford insecticide-treated bed nets that cost between $7 and $21 each, let alone antimalarial medications or treatments.
For World Malaria Day, which is celebrated on Thursday, here’s what you need to know about the situation in Africa:
MALARIA IS STILL WIDESPREAD
The malaria parasite mainly spreads to people through infected mosquitoes and can cause symptoms such as fever, headaches and chills. It mainly affects children under 5 years of age and pregnant women. Vaccination efforts are still at an early stage: Cameroon this year became the first country routinely giving children a new malaria vaccine, which is only about 30% effective and does not stop transmission. A second vaccine was recently approved.
Cases of resistance to antimalarial drugs and insecticides are rising, while government and donor funding for innovation is slowing.
Living conditions play an important role, with crowded neighborhoods, stagnant water, poor sanitation, and lack of access to treatment and prevention materials all problems in many areas. AND an invasive species The number of mosquitoes previously seen mainly in India and the Persian Gulf is a new concern.
A GROWING PROBLEM
Globally, malaria cases are increasing. Infections rose from 233 million in 2019 to 249 million in 85 countries in 2022. Deaths from malaria rose from 576,000 in 2019 to 608,000 in 2022, according to the World Health Organization.
Of the 12 countries that bear about 70% of the global malaria burden, 11 are in Africa and the other is India. Children under 5 years old accounted for 80% of the 580,000 malaria deaths recorded in Africa in 2022.
PROGRESS HARMED BY COVID-19
The fight against malaria has seen some progress in areas such as rapid diagnostic tests, vaccines and new bed nets aimed at combating insecticide resistance, but the COVID-19 pandemic and a shift in focus and funding have slowed efforts.
A study published in the journal Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease last year stated that COVID-19-induced lockdowns led to disruptions at 30% of rural community health service points across Africa. Malaria cases began to rise again, breaking the downward trend between 2000 and 2019.
This downward trend could soon return, according to the WHO.
A WARMING WORLD AND NEW FRONTIERS
Africa is “at the sharp end of climate change,” and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events is wreaking havoc on efforts to combat malaria in low- and middle-income regions, said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. Tuberculosis and Malaria, warned in December.
In 2023, the WHO World Malaria Report included for the first time a chapter on the link between malaria and climate change, highlighting its importance as a potential risk multiplier. Scientists fear that people living in areas once inhospitable to mosquitoes, including the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and the mountains of eastern Ethiopia, could be exposed.
In Zimbabwe, which has seen some of the hottest days in recent decades, periods of malaria transmission have prolonged in some districts, “and this change has been attributed to climate change,” said Dr. Precious Andifasi, WHO’s technical lead for malaria in Zimbabwe.
___
Mutsaka reported from Harare, Zimbabwe.
___
The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and areas of coverage funded in AP.org.
