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clime change — and the extreme weather events it land — could erect global malaria rates , the World Health Organization ( WHO ) warn Thursday ( Nov. 30 ) .
" The change mood poses a substantial risk to progress against malaria , peculiarly in vulnerable regions , " WHO Director - GeneralTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid in astatement . " Sustainable and live malaria answer are want now more than ever , coupled with pressing actions to slow the pace ofglobal warmingand reduce its effects . "
Pakistan faced heavy monsoon rains and severe flooding that displaced and killed many people, and in addition, drove an uptick in malaria.
In its latestWorld Malaria Report , the WHO guess that there were 249 million cases of the mosquito - spread disease in 2022 , up from about 244 million in 2021 and a exchangeable number in 2020 . That was 16 million more cases than seen in 2019 , when malaria cases strike a manger just before the COVID-19pandemicdisrupted malaria bar campaign worldwide .
Most of the five million extra malaria cases between 2021 and 2022 find in five body politic — Pakistan , Nigeria , Uganda , Ethiopia and Papua - New Guinea . Pakistan assure the largest increase at 2.6 million cases , compared to 500,000 in 2021 . The uptick was wed to the destructive flooding that plunged much of Pakistan underwater , providing unexampled breeding background to mosquitoes .
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" With the very enceinte monsoons we wait these consequences , but not up to this magnitude,“Dr . Muhammad Mukhtar , director of Pakistan ’s national malaria control programme , toldThe New York Times . The standing water left from the monsoons , coupled with displace people having nowhere to pay heed mosquito earnings , touch off the uptick in malaria , he said .
In addition to the direct effect ofclimate change , such as extreme flooding in places where malaria isendemic , indirect effects may also drive up malaria cases , the WHO take note . For instance , climate - related disasters could reduce people ’s access to essential malaria services and cause disruptions in the provision chain of insecticide - treated nets , antimalarial medicine and vaccines .
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Despite the recent upsurge in contagion , malaria dying fell to 608,000 in 2022 from a late high of 631,000 in 2020 , although this pace still outpaces prepandemic levels , the WHO reported . ( Prior to the pandemic , in 2019 , the death rate had been driven down to 576,000 . )
And in other electropositive news , thefirst malaria vaccine recommend by the WHO , called RTS , S / AS01 , was successfully rolled out in three African countries over the past few yr , and asecond vaccinewas advocate for use earlier this twelvemonth . The countries with RTS , S / AS01 — Ghana , Kenya and Malawi — have seen a 13 % decay in other puerility deaths , the WHO reported .
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