On April 25th people across the globe take part in a wide range of activities to mark World Malaria Day. The Day is an international observance commemorated every year on 25 April and recognizes global efforts to control malaria. Globally, 3.3 billion people in 106 countries are at risk of malaria. WMD is one of eight official global public health campaigns currently marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Immunization Week, World Tuberculosis Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day and World AIDS Day.
The theme for 2016 is “End Malaria For Good”. Following the great progress made under the Millennium Development Goals, it is important to build on this success and ‘end malaria for good’ under the Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2015:
- 214 million cases globally
- 438,000 deaths globally
- 90% of deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 70% of deaths are children under five
- About 3.2 billion people – almost half of the world’s population – are at risk of malaria
- In 2015, 97 countries had on-going malaria transmission
- 80% of estimated malaria cases occur in 15 most affected countries
- 35% of malaria deaths occur in just two countries: Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Eliminating malaria will make the world a better, safer place for future generations and enable millions of people to reach their full potential.
