Continued investment efforts and sustained political commitment to malaria control are inevitably among the key majors’ catalyzers for malaria elimination. With the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions in malaria services have contributed to a significant increase in malaria cases (14 million) and deaths (69,000) between 2019 and 2020 according to the WHO World Malaria Report 2021, with most of this increase occurring in countries in the African region.
During the pandemic, countries and their partners managed to avoid the worst-case scenario of malaria deaths by mounting an urgent response. Despite the challenges linked to COVID-19, we commend the global community and national malaria control programs for their efforts to maintain prevention and treatment programs. The World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 annual report highlights that many of the endemic countries have been successful in distributing bed nets door-to-door for example.