LUSAKA, Zambia 

Zambia saw a 37% year-on-year increase in malaria cases from 8.1 million in 2022 to 11.1 million in 2023, the country's health minister said Sunday.

Sylvia Masebo said the country also saw a 19% increase in malaria deaths from 1,343 in 2022 to 1,602 in 2023, translating to 30,400 citizens being infected daily and four people dying per day from the disease.

“It is even more disheartening that 18% of these infections were in children under the age of five years and 1% were pregnant women,” Masebo told reporters in the capital Lusaka.

On targeted interventions to combat the disease, Masebo said that Zambia through the National Malaria Elimination Center had completed the distribution of more than 11.6 million insecticide treated mosquito nets across the country.

“This translates into the protection of 23.2 million people with this intervention. However, I must emphasize that having or owning a mosquito net is one thing; the game-changer is the actual use. For these mosquito nets to be effective, they must be used correctly and consistently, every night and throughout the year,” she said.

Masebo also indicated that 742,057 eligible structures had been sprayed through an indoor residual spraying program, protecting over 3.4 million people with the vector control intervention.

On Thursday, Zambia will join the world in commemorating World Malaria Day under the global theme "Gender, health, equity and human rights," with the accompanying slogan: "Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world."