Resistance, mosquito invasion and climate change raise concern in the fight against malaria
Weltmalariatag 2023
Hamburg, April 25th 2023 - On the occasion of today's World Malaria Day, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) warns not to neglect the fight against this "forgotten epidemic": "Now that the corona virus pandemic is subsiding, we must once again address this epidemic that prevents so many countries in the global South from achieving sustainable development," warns Prof. Jürgen May, head of BNITM. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) latest World Malaria Report, around 619,000 people died of malaria in the second Corona pandemic year of 2021, mostly children in Africa under the age of five.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published its annual "World Malaria Report". In 2021, a total of 247 million people had the disease (around 619 thousand deaths) compared to 245 million in 2020 and 232 million cases (around 568 thousand deaths) in 2019 - mostly children under five. Malaria-affected countries, especially in Africa, must continue to respond to a variety of challenges:
"The invasion of the mosquito Anopheles stephensi, which can adapt very easily to urban environmental conditions, from Asia to Africa poses a real risk," says infectious disease epidemiologist Jürgen May.
Climate change is also allowing malaria to spread to regions where the disease was not previously widespread. The WHO has also reacted and published a new guideline including a new strategy to contain resistance to antimalarial drugs in Africa. A new WHO and UN-Habitat framework* will also guide urban leaders on malaria and mosquito control.
Prof. Michael Ramharter, a tropical medicine specialist and head of clinical research at BNITM, adds:
"Some malaria parasites are now escaping diagnostic tests. And we are also concerned about increasing resistance to insecticide-treated nets and drug agents, so we are conducting several large-scale trials of next-generation malaria therapies (triple combination) at the Bernhard Nocht Institute in collaboration with the KCCR** in Ghana and CERMEL in Gabon, in collaboration with the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF) and EDCTP."
Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are still effective, he said, but there are some worrying signals that need to be investigated now, before ACTs fail.
International Day of Action remembers 3 billion people affected
In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) established World Malaria Day as an annual international day of action. It reminds us that more than three billion people in the world are at risk from malaria. The WHO and other organizations are striving for a rolling back of this infectious disease, which has come at great financial and logistical expense. This has led to a constant decrease in new cases in recent years.
Please find below a list of our malaria experts, readily available for interview on the occasion of World Malaria Day.
Read more about malaria in the context of COVID-19 and Global Health on our Day of Action website.
BNITM Expert Service on the occasion of World Malaria Day 2022
On the occasion of World Malaria Day, the listed scientists are available for interviews to the press (all requests please also via presse@bnitm.de).
Prof. Dr Jürgen May / Dr Oumou Maiga-Ascofaré
Epidemiology, Malaria in Africa, Drug Development
Tel.: 0049-40-42818-261
E-Mail: may(at)bnitm.de
E-Mail: maiga(at)bnitm.de
Prof. Dr Michael Ramharter
Clinic of Malaria, Treatment, Prophylaxis, Treatment and Vaccination Studies
Tel.: 0049-40-42818-1330, -264
E-Mail: presse(at)bnitm.de
Dr Tobias Spielmann
Milestones in laboratory research, antibiotic resistance of malaria parasites
Tel.: 0049-40-42818-486
E-Mail: spielmann(at)bnitm.de
We kindly ask you to mention the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine as the source when mentioning us in texts and interviews as well as when using sound bites in TV and online reports.
Backgroud information:
Contact person
Prof. Dr Jürgen May (Chair)
Board of Directors
Phone : +49 40 285380-261
Email : chair@bnitm.de
Dr Tobias Spielmann
Research group leader
Phone : +49 40 285380-486
Email : spielmann@bnitm.de
Julia Rauner
Public Relations
Phone : +49 40 285380-264
Email : presse@bnitm.de
