Malaria remains the most prevalent disease in Africa

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With World Malaria Day on 25 April, Vitality Health International, an innovative health insurer that rewards healthy living for employees in the rest of Africa (and owned by Discovery Group), has announced a partnership with social benefit organisation, Goodbye Malaria, to reduce the high incidence of malaria, a disease that is still taking an unrelenting toll on human health in Africa.

According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data, 2022 saw nearly a quarter of a billion cases of malaria worldwide in four African countries, namely Nigeria (26.6%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (12.3%), Uganda (5.1%) and Mozambique (4.1%), accounting for nearly half of all malaria cases globally.

CEO of Vitality Health International: Africa Emma Knox said Malaria remains the most prevalent disease in Africa with a major impact on the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable with $12 billion lost in productivity every year. “By partnering with Goodbye Malaria, we are taking a significant step towards achieving this goal. We believe that by working together, we can reduce the negative impact of malaria and save many lives on the continent.”

Malaria is preventable and treatable but continues to affect millions of people worldwide. This new partnership will significantly bolster recent efforts which have produced one of the most robust pipelines of malaria interventions across Africa in decades.

In Southern Africa alone, over the last 10 years, Goodbye Malaria has committed R270 million (around $15 million) to the fight against malaria in Mozambique, South Africa and Eswatini (known as the MOSASWA region). Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. According to the 2022 WHO World Malaria report the region had 95% (234 million) of malaria cases and 96% (593 000) of malaria deaths. Eighty percent (80%) of these annual deaths are sadly those of children under the age of five. 

Goodbye Malaria has already made significant strides in the fight against malaria. Last year alone, they impacted the lives of over 4.2 million people in the MOSASWA region through their multi-vector malaria control campaign, including indoor residual spray campaigns across 22 districts in Southern Mozambique as well as 8 mobile surveillance units that operate on the borders of South Africa.

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