The global rate of people dying from malaria has dramatically decreased in the last 14 years, but progress battling the mosquito-borne disease in West Africa is threatened by the Ebola epidemic, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
From 2000 to 2013, the mortality rate for malaria dropped 47 percent worldwide and 54 percent in Africa, where 90 percent of malaria deaths occur, the WHO said. For Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of malaria infections in 2013 was 128 million, down from 173 million in 2000.
WHO officials cited increased access to bed nets to block out insects and more effective treatment methods as contributing to the fewer deaths from malaria, which occurs when a mosquito infected with a parasite bites a human.
If efforts against malaria continue, more gains against the sometimes fatal disease can be made, said Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of WHO's Global Malaria Program.
"There are biological and technical challenges, but we are working with partners to be proactive in developing the right responses to these. There is a strong pipeline of innovative new products that will soon transform malaria control and elimination.
"We can go a lot further," Alonso said.
But officials warned the Ebola epidemic, which has killed thousands in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, "has had a devastating impact on malaria treatment and the roll-out of malaria interventions," the WHO said.
Most inpatient medical centers in the affected countries are closed and attendance at outpatient centers is just a fraction of what it was before the outbreak.
To contain malaria during the epidemic, anti-malaria drugs will now be administered in Ebola-stricken areas where malaria infection rates are high, the WHO said. Officials will also step up international donations to ensure bed nets are distributed to the same affected areas.
