Michael Adekunle Charles
CEO, RBM Partnership to End Malaria
Margaret Reilly McDonnell
Executive Director, United to Beat Malaria
Disrupted global health funding threatens malaria progress, forcing endemic countries to lead the fight or risk losing lives amid unpredictable, complex funding challenges.
Even before donors reassessed their priorities, malaria was already struggling for resources. In 2023, only US$4 billion was invested in fighting malaria – less than half of the US$8.3 billion needed to meet global targets. In the meantime, the climate crisis is expanding the range of malaria-carrying mosquitoes; mosquitoes are developing resistance to insecticides, and the malaria parasite is becoming drug-resistant.
Supporting malaria-endemic countries
Yet, we have the tools to stay ahead. From dual insecticide-treated nets to the recently approved first-ever malaria medicine for infants. Why then do 600,000 people still die from malaria every year, overwhelmingly in Africa?1 The disease continues to quietly snuff out lives – many of them young children under five.
To reverse this, malaria-endemic countries can and must lead this fight. They understand the context in which malaria occurs best. Their people are most at risk, and their policymakers and health workers know what it takes to beat this disease.
Global Fund’s proven impact
Global partnerships should ensure innovations are scaled up, and international financing institutions such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) receive the resources they need. The Global Fund prioritises support for countries, working through existing national systems.
By investing in the Global Fund, they bridge the gap to a world where malaria-endemic countries no longer depend on international aid to protect the health of their people. Last year alone, the Global Fund treated 173 million cases of malaria and distributed more than 162 million bed nets. Its impact is undeniable. Between 2002 and 2023, malaria deaths in Global Fund-supported countries fell by 29%. Without intervention, deaths would have increased by 94%.2
A dried pipeline means generations and countries not attaining their full potential
Ending malaria fuels growth
When the malaria funding pipeline dries up, the impact goes beyond strained health systems struggling to respond to malaria and other diseases. A dried pipeline means generations and countries not attaining their full potential. With US$127 billion at stake as the amount of GDP Africa could gain if it went back on track to reaching malaria goals, there is no time to waste. Now is the time for one unified big push to end malaria.
[1] World Health Organization. 2024. World malaria report 2024.
[2] The Global Fund. 2025. Results report 2025.
