Health officials have identified 13 countries with rising malaria cases, which highlights the need to bolster containment initiatives, according to CNN.
Here are five things to know:
1. The World Health Organization released its 2018 World Malaria Report Nov. 19, confirming rising or plateauing cases in many countries. Globally, malaria cases jumped from 217 million in 2016 to 219 million cases in 2017.
2. "No significant progress in reducing global malaria cases was made" between 2015-17, the report indicates. Before 2015, global malaria rates were on the decline.
3. Most of the countries that saw a spike in malaria cases were in Africa. Nigeria, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo saw the greatest uptick in malaria cases.
4. Ten countries in Africa, including Tanzania, Mali, and Cameroon, collectively saw 3.5 million more malaria cases in 2017 than the year prior.
5. Brazil, Nicaragua and Venezuela saw large increases in malaria cases, while India, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Rwanda saw a sharp decline in cases. India and Rwanda reported 3 million and 430,000 fewer cases in 2017, respectively. Health officials said these countries' success can be attributed to political leaders' engagement in addressing the issue, their ability to reach marginalized populations and their use of resources like bug nets and malaria vaccines.
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