Global Malaria Strategy
The development of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2000-2015 galvanised action and investment to help bring malaria mortality rates down by approximately half over this period, meaning millions of malaria deaths were averted. However, since 2015 progress to continue the trend in declining malaria cases and deaths has stalled and has begun instead to move in the wrong direction.
In 2020, there were approximately 241 million people living with malaria and an estimated 627,000 deaths globally from the disease – many of them children under five – the highest figure in nearly a decade. These figures, taken from the World Health Organization’s 2021 World Malaria Report, are part of the bigger picture that shows how far off track the global community is from meeting the target of a global reduction of at least 90 percent in malaria case incidence and mortality rates by 2030. At the same time, the funding gap needed to meet this target also continues to widen, with an estimated US$10.3 billion needed in 2030 if current trends continue.