Malaria deaths rise by 69,000 in 2020 due to COVID-19 disruptions, says WHO

FILE PHOTO: A health agent prepares an anti-malaria injection at Marcory General Hospital in Abidjan, Ivory Coast October 7, 2021. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

DAKAR (Reuters) - Healthcare disruptions linked to the coronavirus pandemic helped malaria kill 69,000 more people in 2020 than the previous year, but a worst-case scenario was averted, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

In total over 627,000 people globally - most of them babies in the poorest parts of Africa - were killed by malaria last year compared with 558,000 in 2019, the WHO said in its annual malaria report.