Global malaria surge: WHO warns of rising cases, deaths and drug resistance

The latest WHO malaria report shows infections and deaths rising in 2024, driven by drug and insecticide resistance, funding gaps and climate pressures, threatening years of global progress

After years of hard-won progress, malaria is once again tightening its grip, driven by fast-spreading drug resistance and strained health systems. The latest World malaria report 2025 by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that in 2024, an estimated 282 million people contracted Malaria worldwide, an increase of around 9 million from 2023. Malaria claimed approximately 610,000 lives during the year.

 

The findings emphasise that unless countries act swiftly and collectively, the world risks slipping further behind in the fight against one of humanity’s oldest and deadliest parasites.

 

Key findings from the latest WHO malaria report

• Malaria infected 282 million people and caused 610,000 deaths in 2024, marking a rise from the previous year.
• 94 per cent of the cases and 95 per cent of these deaths were in the African Region, with most deaths among children under 5.
• India accounted for 73.3 per cent of all cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region, and reported 88.7 per cent per cent of all deaths in the region.
• New tools such as malaria vaccines, dual-ingredient bed nets and preventive treatments helped avert an estimated 170 million cases and 1 million deaths in 2024.
• Twenty-four countries have now introduced WHO-recommended malaria vaccines into routine immunisation programmes.
• 47 countries and one territory have achieved malaria-free status, including Egypt and Timor-Leste in 2025.

 

The report warns that global progress has stalled since 2015, putting the 2030 malaria reduction targets far out of reach unless action accelerates.

 

 

What’s driving the surge?

 

The WHO highlights several interlinked factors:

 

Rising drug resistance: The malaria parasite is becoming less responsive to artemisinin-based treatments, which are the main medicines used to treat the disease, and eight countries have now reported confirmed or suspected resistance.

  Insecticide resistance: Mosquitoes are no longer killed as effectively by the chemicals used in bed nets and sprays, weakening some of the most important tools used to control malaria.

  Funding gap: Global malaria funding in 2024 was $3.9 billion, only 42 per cent of the $9.3 billion target for 2025. The Overseas Development Aid (ODA) from wealthy countries has also fallen by around 21 per cent.

  Broader systemic and environmental pressures: Population growth, climate change and humanitarian crises are worsening the burden.

 

Anopheles stephensi, a mosquito species originally native to parts of southern Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, further expanded its range and is now reported in nine African countries, heightening urban malaria risks.

 

"Increasing numbers of cases and deaths, the growing threat of drug resistance and the impact of funding cuts all threaten to roll back the progress we have made over the past two decades. However, none of these challenges is insurmountable. With the leadership of the most-affected countries and targeted investment, the vision of a malaria-free world remains achievable," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

 

WHO recommendations

 

The WHO’s 2025 malaria report underscores an urgent need for:

 

• Greater investment in new tools - next-generation vaccines, improved diagnostics, and upgraded vector-control solutions.
• Robust surveillance systems to quickly detect and respond to drug-resistant malaria strains.
• Sustained funding from governments and global donors to ensure access to prevention and treatment

 

“We have to act now to increase the scope and coordination of surveillance, so we're not flying blind, and boldly invest in the innovation of the next generation of medicines, so the parasite doesn't get ahead of us,” said Dr Martin Fitchet, CEO of Medicines for Malaria Venture, a not-for-profit organisation that focuses on delivering new antimalarial drugs.

 

Experts also stress the importance of broad partnerships across the entire health ecosystem, bringing together industry, global health agencies, academia, clinicians, researchers, civil society, communities and funders to strengthen malaria control and protect the progress made so far.   

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This report is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.