As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise on the African continent, public health experts are concerned as the rainy season approaches and thus malaria. The coronavirus has in some cases destabilized an already very fragile health system. And malaria could explode due to disorganized access to care. Researchers warn that the increase in hospital admissions for Covid-19 has also diverted already limited resources from addressing the region’s major health problems. The warning came ahead of World Malaria Day on Saturday May 30.
Malaria remains one of the leading killers in low-income countries.
Sub Saharan Africa had 93% of the world’s cases of malaria and 94% of deaths in 2018, the WHO said. The deaths were mainly children under the age of 5.
According to new projections of WHO, in a worst-case scenario, 769,000 people could die of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa this year as campaigns to combat it are interrupted.