Malaria deaths reduced by 50% since 2000 -WHO

Malaria deaths have dropped dramatically since 2000 as
more people are treated and use more bed nets, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
However, the UN health agency warned on Tuesday
that the Malaria treatment process in West Africa risks
being reversed by an unprecedented epidemic of Ebola.
On malaria, the WHO said that progress against the
mosquito-borne infection remains fragile and West African
countries suffering from Ebola are particularly at risk of
seeing a resurgence of malaria.
In its annual report on the malaria, the WHO said the
death rate from the illness fell by 47 percent worldwide
between 2000 and 2013 and by 54 percent in Africa,
where about 90 percent of all malaria deaths occur.
In an analysis of malaria’s impact across sub-Saharan
Africa, it also found that despite a 43 percent increase in
population, fewer people in the region are infected every
year.
Meanwhile, 13 of the 97 malarial countries reported no
cases of the disease last year, including two, Azerbaijan
and Sri Lanka, which recorded their first ever zero
result.
While access to insecticide-treated bed nets has improved,
278 million of the 840 million people at risk in sub-
Saharan Africa still live in households without one, the
report said.
“The next few years are going to be critical to show that
we can maintain momentum and build on the gains,” said
Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO’s global malaria
programme.
He attributed the progress in large part to increasing
financial and political commitment, in particular regional
efforts to work together to eliminate malaria.