HQ Team
November 1, 2024: Malaria killed 1,157 people in Ethiopia during the first ten months of this year, and 7.3 million cases were reported in the landlocked East African nation — the highest number of annual cases recorded in the last seven years, according to the World Health Organization.
“Malaria poses a significant public health challenge in Ethiopia, where approximately 75% of the land mass is considered to be endemic to malaria,” according to a statement from the global health agency.
Around 69% of the population residing in these areas face the risk of infection, where periodic outbreaks contribute to up to 20% of deaths among children under the age of five.
Challenges remain in delivering essential healthcare services, including malaria treatment, in health facilities due to a lack of accessibility and health facilities that are barely functional in areas affected by conflicts.
Other outbreaks
The presence of other concurrent disease outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies in the country further exacerbates these challenges, the WHO stated.
The national risk for malaria in Ethiopia is “high” due to multiple factors including the spread of Anopheles stephensi, drought and food insecurity and climate change-induced extreme weather events.
WHO assesses the regional risk as “moderate” due to concurrent malaria and other vector-borne disease outbreaks in six neighbouring countries — Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
Of the total cases reported in 2024 in Ethiopia, 95% were laboratory-confirmed, with Plasmodium falciparum accounting for more than two-thirds of the cases.
Children under five years
Males accounted for 56% of outpatient cases and 52% of inpatient admissions. Children under five years old account for 16% of outpatient cases and 25% of inpatient admissions.
The high movement of seasonal migrant workers, — the majority of whom are adult males — to the high malaria endemic areas and the highly seasonal pattern of malaria in the country may have contributed to the observed age and sex distribution, according to the WHO.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
Malaria transmission is also possible through blood transfusion, organ transplantation, or the sharing of needles or syringes contaminated with infected blood. Malaria can also be transmitted from mother to child before or during delivery.
Surge in Ethiopia
There are five parasite species that cause malaria in humans, of which two of these species pose the greatest public health threat, namely Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Both parasite species were reported in Ethiopia.
In 2019, Ethiopia recorded its lowest-ever malaria case count, with about 900,000 cases reported due to strong program implementation, improved surveillance, roll-out of malaria interventions, and community health extension program.
However, towards the end of 2021, the country began experiencing a resurgence of the disease. Approximately 3.3 million confirmed malaria cases were reported in 2022, compared to 1.3 million in 2021. In 2023, 4.1 million malaria cases, including 527 deaths, were reported.
