 "World Malaria Day: How climate change is worsening the spread of the disease")
A word of caution. Do not take malaria lightly. It continues to be one of the top life-threatening diseases. There were an estimated 249 million cases of malaria around the world in 2022 with over 600,000 deaths, the World Health Organisation reported.
Many low and middle-income countries still struggle to put a leash on the deadly disease. It was thought to have been eliminated in higher-income countries like the US and nations in Europe. But now is making its way back. The reason? Climate change, say experts.
This World Malaria Day, let’s take a closer look at how this disease spreads and exactly how climate change is set to worsen it.
How does malaria spread?
As per the WHO, the mosquito-borne disease is transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. The person experiences high fever, nausea, body aches and shaking chills.
Though malaria is treatable, it can cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and even death in severe cases if not diagnosed and treated in time, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.
The mosquitos that carry the parasite majorly thrive in hot and humid climatic conditions, such as in tropical countries of Asia and Africa where crowded neighbourhoods, stagnant water, poor sanitation and lack of access to treatment and prevention materials are contributing factors.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNotably, Dr Daniel Ngamije, who directs the WHO malaria programme, said that cases in 2022 were concentrated in just five countries: Pakistan, Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia and Papua-New Guinea, with climate change being a direct contributor in three of them.
What does the picture in Asia look like?
As per a World Bank report, South Asia, including eight countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is the most vulnerable region to climate shocks, and extreme weather events and is experiencing a “new climate normal”.
Pakistan, for example, battled catastrophic flooding in 2022 during which more than a third of the country was underwater and 33 million people were affected. As the water receded, it saw a five-fold increase in malaria cases, with as many as 2.6 million cases as compared to 500,000 a year ago, according to WHO data.
“It was just the perfect storm for malaria,” Dr Schapira, a WHO consultant who reviewed Pakistan’s national malaria programme, said.
Increasing variations in climate and decreasing insecticide and drug resistance are also expected to increase the suitability for malaria transmission in the northeastern regions of India such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Pondicherry, Dr Andrew Karanja Githeko, a climate expert wrote in a paper titled “Malaria and climate change”.
“The changing climate poses a substantial risk to progress against malaria, particularly in vulnerable regions. Sustainable and resilient malaria responses are needed now more than ever, coupled with urgent actions to slow the pace of global warming and reduce its effects,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
How common are outbreaks in Europe and the US?
Malaria is no longer an anomaly in the West. As global temperatures soar, breaking records each year, mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue are making their presence across the world, an expert was quoted as saying by The Guardian report.
Rachel Lowe, who leads the global health resilience group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center in Spain, has cautioned that outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases are poised to spread across currently unaffected parts of northern Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia over the next few decades.
“Global warming resulting from climate change means that the disease vectors carrying and spreading malaria and dengue fever can inhabit more regions, leading to outbreaks in areas where people are likely to lack immunity and where public health systems are unprepared,” Lowe told the publication.
The Asian tiger mosquito, which carries dengue fever, has become established in 13 European countries, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. As of 2023, it was present in Italy, France, Spain, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Greece, and Portugal.
The US is also seeing a rise in cases.
According to John Hopkins University, the US reported the first homegrown malaria cases in 20 years last year. Usually each year, 2,000–2,500 malaria cases related to travel to Sub-Sahara or Southeast Asia regions where the disease is prevalent are reported.
However, in 2023, nine locally transmitted cases were contracted by individuals who hadn’t recently visited those areas raising concerns over the re-emergence or emergence of mosquito-borne diseases in new places.
Now we are in 2024. Science continues to make great advances. But to fight malaria, we might need more than just medical breakthroughs. We need a healthier planet.
With inputs from agencies
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