James Sunderland, who is a Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Malaria, backs World Malaria Day to raise awareness of the continued importance of tackling this preventable and treatable disease that still kills a child almost every minute.

James said:

“With continued leadership from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and investment we can end malaria for good.”

Highlights from the World Malaria Report 2021

• The fight against malaria is at a precarious juncture due to COVID-19 and emerging biological threats. We risk a serious resurgence of the disease.
• Malaria deaths have risen year-on-year to the highest level in nearly a decade – 627,000 lives were lost to malaria in 2020.
• COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on progress against malaria. There has been a 12 per cent increase in malaria deaths between 2019 and 2020, of which two-thirds (47,000) were due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to malaria – malaria is responsible for 8 per cent of all deaths in children under five. In 2020, 80 per cent of malaria deaths in Africa were in children under five.
• There has been a US$3.5 billion increase in the funding gap between the amount invested and the resources needed in 2020.