Mozambique and Angola are among the 10 countries that had the most cases of malaria in 2023, according to the world report on the disease, released on Wednesday by the World Health Organisation.
Worldwide, there were 263 million cases of malaria in 2023, 11 million more than the previous year, with the WHO’s African Region – where both these Portuguese-language countries are found – accounting for 94% of cases.
Last year, Nigeria was the country with the most cases (68,136,000), followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (33,141,000) and Uganda (12,573,000). Mozambique had 9,560,000 cases and Angola 8,251,000.
Five countries had a higher percentage of total global cases: Nigeria (26%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (13%), Uganda (5%), Ethiopia (4%) and Mozambique (4%).
The document indicates that the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region – which includes most countries in North Africa – has seen a 57% increase in incidence since 2021, rising to 17.9 cases per 1,000 inhabitants in 2023.
In 2023, the number of deaths attributed to malaria was 597,000, with a mortality rate of 13.7 per 100,000.
Here too, the WHO’s African Region continues to bear the greatest burden of mortality, registering 95% of the estimated malaria deaths worldwide.
Last year, Azerbaijan, Belize, Cabo Verde and Tajikistan were certified malaria-free. In 2024, Egypt also achieved malaria-free status, becoming the third country in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region to do so.
The WHO report highlights some positive trends in global malaria control, bearing in mind that between 2000 and 2023, 12.7 million deaths were prevented worldwide, 12 million of them in the WHO’s African region.
2By 2023 alone, more than 177 million cases and more than 1 million deaths had been averted worldwide,” reads the document.
Progress has also been “remarkable” in countries with a low burden of disease, it states: the number of countries with fewer than 10,000 malaria cases increased from 28 in 2000 to 47 in 2023, while countries with fewer than 10 cases increased from four to 25 during the same period.
“Nobody should die of malaria,” the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is quoted as saying. “However, the disease continues to disproportionately affect people living in the African region, especially young children and pregnant women.2
He emphasised that “an expanded set of life-saving tools now offers better protection against the disease, but more investment and action are needed in African countries.”
By November 2024, 44 countries and one territory had been certified malaria-free by the WHO and many more are making steady progress towards the goal. Of the 83 countries where malaria is endemic, 25 now register fewer than 10 cases of malaria a year – an increase from four countries in 2000.
Lusa
