African leaders have expressed serious concerns about a funding crisis jeopardizing malaria elimination efforts on the continent, highlighting the risk of losing decades of progress.
At the 39th African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, African leaders accentuated the need to address a significant funding decline that endangers the continent’s fight against malaria. The leaders endorsed the alarming findings laid out in the 2025 African Union Malaria Progress Report, presented by Duma Boko, the chair of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance. The report details a troubling stagnation in malaria control efforts, which could potentially reverse the progress made in combating this deadly disease over the past years.
The report reveals that African Union member states collectively accounted for 270.8 million malaria cases in 2024—an astonishing 96% of the global total. Furthermore, these countries faced 594,119 malaria-related deaths, which corresponds to 97% of global malaria fatalities in the same year. This data highlights the grave situation the continent faces, urging governments to reevaluate their commitment to combating malaria as the funding crisis takes a toll on health interventions and initiatives.
Since 2015, despite implementing various programs and interventions aimed at malaria control, the progress towards reducing malaria incidence and mortality has come to a halt. The report notes that only five countries are on track to meet the 2025 targets set by the African Union, indicating a dire need for renewed focus, innovation, and financing to avoid the debilitating effects of a malaria resurgence that could undo decades of hard-won achievements in public health across Africa.
