Malaria cases, deaths in India declined by 69 per cent between 2017-2023: WHO

India has seen significant progress in reducing malaria incidence and mortality rates according to the latest World Malaria report from the World Health Organization WHO on WednesdayMalaria is a lifethreatening disease spread to humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes It is preventable and curableThe report showed that the number of estimated malaria cases in India decreased to 2 million cases in 2023 from 64 million in 2017 69 per cent decreaseSimilarly the estimated malaria deaths decreased to 3500 from 11100 68 per cent decrease during the same periodAs a result ldquoIndia exited the High Burden to High Impact HBHI group officially in 2024rdquo the WHO saidThe HBHI approach is a targeted malaria response that is used in several countries to accelerate the pace of malaria elimination in countries with high malaria burden India joined the HBHI initiative in July 2019The HBHI initiative was launched in four states in India Chhattisgarh Jharkhand Madhya Pradesh and West BengalFurther the report showed that in 2023 India accounted for half of all estimated malaria cases in the WHO SouthEast Asia Region followed by Indonesia which accounted for just under onethirdThe Region had eight malaria endemic countries in 2023 accounting for 4 million cases and contributing 15 per cent of the burden of malaria cases globallyJust over 48 per cent of all estimated cases in the region were due to P vivaxHowever from 2000 to 2023 malaria cases reduced by 824 per cent from 228 million in 2000 and incidence reduced by 870 per cent from 177 to 23 per 1000 population at risk the report saidldquoThe decrease can mainly be accounted for by a decrease in India of 177 million estimated cases and a decrease in incidence by 93 per cent from 20 to 15 per 1000 population at riskrdquo the WHO reportedAt the same time India and Indonesia accounted for about 88 per cent of all estimated malaria deaths in this region in 2023Notably Bhutan and TimorLeste from the Region reported zero malaria deaths since 2013 and 2015 respectively while Sri Lanka was certified malariafree in 2016ldquoThe progress follows the highest ever political commitment by Member countries matched by tangible actions and unstinted efforts over the years down to the subnational levelrdquo said Saima Wazed Regional Director WHO SouthEast AsialdquoHowever accelerated efforts against malaria must continue to eliminate the disease in countries where malaria persists and to sustain the progress in countries where the disease is on the decline or has been eliminatedrdquo she addedGlobally the WHO data reveals that an estimated 22 billion cases of malaria and 127 million deaths have been averted since 2000 but the disease remains a serious global health threat particularly in the WHO African RegionIn 2023 there were an estimated 263 million cases and 597000 malaria deaths worldwide representing about 11 million more cases in 2023 compared to 2022 and nearly the same number of deathsldquoAn expanded package of lifesaving tools now offers better protection against the disease but steppedup investments and action in highburden countries are needed to curb the threatrdquo said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WHO DirectorGeneralAlso ReadClimate change responsible for 19 per cent of rising dengue cases finds studyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever