Since Coronavirus, around 75,000 people have died from Malaria; a curable disease

This is not a fun fact but…

There has been considerable media coverage on the Covid 19 Coronavirus outbreak. Since its outbreak at the beginning of the year, the disease has killed 7,100 people, around half of whom, in developed western countries.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Malaria has already killed an estimated 75,208 people this year*. Malaria can easily be treated with prescription drugs to kill the parasite, as singer Cheryl Cole was cured in 2010.

The latest statistics from the World Health Organisation show that 405 000 people died of Malaria in 2018, 67% of whom were children. In 2018 there were 228 million cases of malaria in the world.

The number of deaths is dropping each year but it could still be a lot better. In 2017, 435 000 died of Malaria and in 2016, it was 451, 000 people.

According to WHO, every 2 minutes, a child dies of malaria and although countries have dramatically reduced the total number of malaria cases and deaths since 2000, progress in recent years has stalled. In some countries, malaria is still on the rise.

*Calculating this year’s Malaria deaths:

Using the World Health Organisation statistics for Malaria deaths in 2016, 2017 and 2018 we can predict that malaria deaths in 2020 will be about 361,333. If we divide this number by the 12 months of the year and multiply by 2.5 months (today is 16th March) then that makes 75,208 estimated malaria deaths so far this year.