World Malaria Day 2026 - “Driven to end Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must”

World Malaria Day is observed every year on 25 April to recognise global efforts to control malaria.

25 April 2026

The new data in the ongoing struggle against malaria give us not only cause for continued optimism, but also a clear mandate to continue our global effort towards eliminating this pernicious threat to public health. On World Malaria Day (WMD) 2026, we review how far we have come, how far we have yet to go, and highlight the ongoing efforts of EVI and our partners to contribute to the well-being of our global population.

Unfortunately, malaria continues to disproportionately affect the world’s most vulnerable populations. In 2024, the WHO African Region was home to about 95% of all malaria cases and 95% of deaths, with children under 5 years of age accounting for about 75% of all malaria deaths in the Region.

The updated figures this year show 2.3 billion cases of malaria prevented, as well as 14 million lives spared since 2000.  Three countries were newly certified “malaria-free” in 2024, bringing the overall total to 47, and 37 other countries experienced fewer than 1,000 cases as well.  However, despite advancements in vaccines, paediatric care, and other preventative strategies, cases and mortality increased slightly last year: 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths worldwide, as compared with 263 million cases and 597,000 deaths in 2023. When momentum begins to wane, hard-fought progress can quickly be undone, and these figures underscore the importance of sustaining our levels of funding and effort in line with years past.

New developments in the past year:

Alongside the significant progress made over the past decades, new hurdles have also emerged due to biological, systemic, humanitarian, and environmental challenges.  Drug resistance is confirmed and spreading in four African countries, pyrethroid resistance is reducing efficacy of chemically-treated bed nets, gene deletions are confounding early diagnostics, and invasive mosquitos are expanding their ranges. These issues are further compounded against the backdrop of research funding shortfalls, cuts in global health aid, climate change, armed conflicts, and humanitarian crises disrupting critical services and enabling malaria resurgence.

EVI and our partners are adapting our roles and strategies in light of these challenges: coordinating initiatives to develop, and sponsoring clinical trials of new vaccines targeting multiple life stages of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, supporting case-control studies to identify optimal dose scheduling of existing vaccines, contributing to the advancement of malaria vaccine delivery in African nations, and leading a study to evaluate the feasibility and impact of a seasonal intensification strategy for malaria vaccination. 

A major focus of this work is protecting pregnant women, an area where EVI-led research is rapidly strengthening the evidence base. A recent multistakeholder workshop coordinated by EVI demonstrated that existing and candidate vaccines, including PRIMVAC and PAMVAC, which target the VAR2CSA antigen responsible for placental sequestration, hold real potential to complement current prevention strategies. To be effective, such vaccines would need to deliver long-lasting immunity, reaching adolescent girls and women before their first pregnancy.

Yet scientific progress alone is not enough. EVI's social science work makes this clear: a study assessing vaccine readiness among women of reproductive age in Malawi found that while general malaria knowledge and preventive practices are broadly strong, awareness of the specific risks of malaria in pregnancy remains limited. Targeted behaviour change interventions will be essential to build the community acceptance that future maternal malaria vaccines will depend on. Alongside these efforts, reinforcing pharmacovigilance systems and securing early regulatory alignment emerge as equally critical pillars of any future implementation strategy.

Taken together, this body of work reflects the complexity of the malaria challenge — and the sophistication of the response it demands. The path towards eliminating malaria extends far beyond 2026, and sustained investment in both effort and funding is essential to safeguard the progress we have worked so hard to achieve.

World Malaria Day 2026 is an optimal backdrop to emphasise the necessity for advocating for stronger commitments, better policies, and increased funding to achieve a malaria-free future.