Malaria fever claims more than 600,000 lives each year with the majority of deaths occurring on the African continent. This week Egypt became another country declared by the WHO to be free of malaria fever. This is a great success for Egypt which has been fighting this deadly disease for the past 100 years.
Malaria epidemics have been reported in Egypt since thousands of years with King Tutankhamun being one of the victims of this disease. A country is categorized as free from Malaria if no infection has been reported for three consecutive years.
Apart from Egypt, Cabo Verde is another country that managed to achieve malaria-free status this year. In total there are 44 countries and one region free of malaria worldwide. In the Southeast Asian region, only Brunei and Singapore are included in this list.
While in Malaysia no deaths due to it have been reported since 2017 but cases increased in 2023 with the highest cases reported in Sabah followed by Kelantan. Among the contributing factors to this increase is climate change.