As the world marks World Malaria Day, malaria cases among populations at risk dropped by 37 per cent and death rates 60 per cent respectively globally, WHO report has said.
According to the WHO’s World Malaria Report 2015, there has been a significant decline in malaria cases and deaths globally since 2000 due to the use of tools such as insecticide- treated bed-nets, indoor residual spraying, and rapid diagnostic testing.
"Currently, 3.2 billion people worldwide are at risk of malaria. There were 214 million new cases of malaria worldwide in 2015," notes the report.
World Malaria Day is marked every April 25 to recognise global efforts to tame the disease.
This year's theme is “End Malaria For Good”.
As put forth by the WHO report, malaria is a dangerous disease especially for pregnant women as the parasite can pass into the mother’s womb and infect the foetus significantly. "Almost half of the world's population is at the risk of the disease.
Around 15 countries account for 78% of the deaths globally. These countries are mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.