Covid derails drive to defeat malaria

The coronavirus pandemic has derailed the global campaign against malaria, increasing deaths from the mosquitoborne disease for the first time in three years. The 627,000 lives lost to malaria last year “must serve as a wake-up call in a world still struggling to win its fight against Covid-19”, said Gareth Jenkins, advocacy director at Malaria No More UK. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization regional director for Africa, said “the pandemic’s knock-on effect translates to thousands of lives lost to malaria”.