Ahead of World Malaria Day on 25th April, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria is calling on countries to act now to save almost 400,000 additional lives from malaria as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The RBM Partnership to End Malaria, along with global and regional partners, including World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is urging leaders of malaria affected countries to take advantage of the critical window of opportunity they now have, before the rainy season, to save lives and prevent over-burdening health systems.
The call comes in response to a new modelling study from WHO, which suggests that severe disruptions to insecticide-treated net campaigns and in access to antimalarial medicines due to COVID-19 could lead to a doubling of malaria deaths, potentially resulting in up to almost 800,000 malaria deaths in 2020. According to last year’s World Malaria Report, approximately 400,000 people died from malaria, the lowest level ever in almost 20 years.
Click “Read More” to be directed to the full, official World Malaria Day statement from the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.