September 20, 2022
1. In 2020, an estimated 627,000 people died from malaria, a 12% rise from 2015. The parasite that causes malaria is spread by mosquitoes, and over the years, it has developed resistance to medications used to treat it.
2. Long-established antimalarial medications, such as chloroquine, were misused and overused, which hastened the development of resistance in human malaria parasites.
3. Reports of partial resistance to current commonly used antimalarial drugs emerging in Rwanda and Uganda are alarming because over 90% of malaria infections and fatalities worldwide occur on the African continent.
4. Curbing antimalarial resistance requires vector control; improved and accessible diagnostics; malaria prevention measures, such as chemoprevention, indoor residual spraying, and insecticide-treated nets; and multisectoral collaboration and political commitment to malaria elimination.
