Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the annual World Malaria Report, the most comprehensive look at the global malaria landscape. This year’s report, which is based on 2024 data, tells a mixed story of progress over time coupled with real challenges such as the impact of funding shortages and emerging threats including drug resistance— even before the cuts and disruptions to foreign assistance over the course of 2025. It’s essential that we understand that context as we assess where this fight stands today and where it may be heading tomorrow.
Let’s dive in.
The 2025 World Malaria Report makes one thing clear: the story of the last two decades has been one of enormous progress.
Since 2000, malaria programs have helped prevent an estimated 2.3 billion cases and saved at least 14 million lives. In 2024 alone, more than 170 million cases and 1 million deaths were averted. There are a number of factors that have contributed to the long-term decline in cases and deaths, including better access to primary healthcare. But the global effort to massively scale foundational interventions, from insecticide-treated bed nets to antimalarial drugs, has been at the core of this lifesaving progress.
This year alone, three more countries were certified malaria-free, meaning they have had no locally transmitted cases of malaria. Georgia reclaimed its elimination status in January, having seen several malaria-free decades abruptly ended in the early 2000s—a reminder of how easily the disease can make a comeback. In June, Suriname became the first country in the Amazonian region to eliminate malaria. And in July, Timor-Leste followed, having reduced cases from 230,000 annually in the early 2000s to zero. In all three cases, strong national leadership, stable funding, careful surveillance, and community engagement were once again the recipe for beating malaria.
There are now 47 countries and one territory where people who once lived with the threat of this disease now live malaria-free, showing that elimination IS possible.
But the World Malaria Report also highlights that despite these achievements, the pace of progress has slowed. In 2024, there were 282 million cases of malaria worldwide, compared to 273 million in 2023, driven primarily by surges in a handful of countries: Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Yemen. Deaths from malaria also rose, from 597,000 in 2023 to 610,000 last year.
These increases may seem relatively small, but they reflect an ongoing stagnation of progress over recent years.
The malaria burden remains concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. 95% of total deaths from malaria were in the WHO African region. Of those, 75%—or more than 434,000—were children under the age of five, meaning a child still dies roughly every minute from a disease that is both preventable and treatable.
The reasons malaria has remained such a difficult challenge to overcome are familiar. Challenges of geography, climate, instability, and inequality all make the disease vector—mosquitoes—harder to control and make treatment and prevention more difficult to access.
Further, the impact of threats such as insecticide resistance, rising drug resistance and funding shortfalls were already evident before 2024.
Funding for malaria programs has largely plateaued over the last decade, making it challenging to build on earlier progress and scale prevention and treatment. Endemic countries have tried to fill the gaps. In 2024, they contributed more than 44% of total funding for global malaria programs, a significant increase from their historic average of around 33%. While this in part reflects economic growth and expanding fiscal capacity, it also reflects a recognition of the need to take ownership of this fight and a desire to do so.
For all that the World Malaria Report paints a mixed picture of challenges and successes, it also highlights the greatest reasons for optimism: innovation and partnership.
In 2024, 17 African countries rolled malaria vaccines, which have proven highly effective at reducing the risk of death or serious illness from malaria, especially when used alongside other interventions. In 2025, an additional seven countries had begun administering malaria vaccines. A multisectoral partnership between manufacturers, WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has enabled the rollout and even cut the per-dose price of the vaccine to enable it to scale. Deploying the vaccine to more countries could protect millions of vulnerable children from malaria and help transform this fight.
Similarly, the quality of insecticide-treated bed nets has improved massively, with real benefits to protection. As recently as 2019, they comprised just 10% of the total share of bed nets shipped by manufacturers. In 2024, 84% of new nets were improved, next-generation nets, with the share of dual-insecticide nets rising especially rapidly since 2023 alone. This reflects the success of the New Nets Project, spearheaded by Unitaid and the Global Fund and supported by the Gates Foundation and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, (PMI) which has accelerated the testing, manufacturing, and rollout of dual-insecticide nets.
Finally, even more new tools not yet captured in the 2024 data have the potential to further accelerate progress. WHO pre-qualified spatial repellants—light, long-lasting, and easy to use tools that keep mosquitoes out of a dwelling or room—opening the door to wider adoption. And the first-ever malaria medicine for infants and newborns, also received prequalification.
These exciting tools have the potential to be genuine game-changers that accelerate our progress against malaria. But they will require investments to reach those who need them most.
U.S. support for malaria programs has been fundamental to the progress we’ve made since 2000. Funding provided through the Global Fund and PMI has prevented hundreds of millions of cases and resulted in an estimated $90 billion increase in GDP across recipient countries—a clear health and development “best buy.”
Despite sweeping changes to U.S. foreign assistance, the U.S. State Department’s new America First Global Health Strategy reaffirms the American commitment to the fight against malaria. The recent U.S. pledge of $4.6B at the Global Fund Replenishment conference and the retained 2:1 match made this commitment concrete. Endemic countries are also stepping up, with African countries collectively pledging more than $50 million and the private sector and philanthropic partners pledging $1.34B to the Global Fund. An impressive total of $11.34B was pledged but more will be needed to unlock the full potential of the U.S. matching pledge and to protect millions of lives around the world.
Now is the time to build on this momentum and make sure countries have the support they need to scale solutions, reach the unreached with lifesaving care, provide a bridge to endemic country leadership, and get progress against malaria back on track.
© United to Beat Malaria. 2025 • Save Lives, Beat Malaria
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