About Malaria

• In Africa, malaria – an entirely preventable disease - is a leading cause of death for children, causing at least 18% of under five deaths. In Asia and Latin America, the incidence may be lower, but it attacks the poorest, most marginalized populations.

• Malaria can cause an immense burden on health systems estimated to account for 25-35% of all outpatient visits, 20-45% of hospital admissions and 15-35% of hospital deaths.

• Economic costs due to malaria in Africa are estimated to be about US$12 billion per year, and malaria is responsible for slowing economic growth in some African countries by 1.3% per year.

• Each year, there are an estimated 350-500 million cases of malaria, resulting in 1-3 million deaths; the vast majority among children under five and 90% in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Over 3 billion people are at risk of contracting malaria.

• Pregnant women are more susceptible to malaria infection than non-pregnant women.

Top priorities to tackle the problem of malaria are:

1. Access    Despite the existence of tools and strategies, which work well to control malaria, many people are not being reached. This is a key challenge to control of malaria, requiring delivery systems that reach all at risk.

2. Capacity    Current global funding is better than ever, and it is essential to have the capacity to use it well.

3. Ensuring we use approaches and products which work   Malaria is not static. We need to keep ahead with new tools to replace those no longer working and evidence on which systems are ensuring access to those at risk of malaria.

4. Sufficient and sustained financing    Current commitments to finance malaria control do not yet meet the global needs, but have improved immensely. The challenge is to keep up the momentum in order to achieve lasting improvements.