Kenya’s malaria burden reflects global health crisis, says WHO

The World Health Organization has warned that global disease-fighting progress may reverse without urgent investment in stronger health systems and improved data, as the world is currently losing ground.

The warning comes as Kenya and other African countries continue battling recurring malaria outbreaks, despite years of progress.

In Kenya alone, malaria cases rose sharply in recent years, with WHO reports showing infections climbed to more than four million cases last year, while hospitals across high-risk counties continued reporting heavy disease burdens.

In its new World Health Statistics 2026 report released Tuesday, the organisation said the world remains off track to meet any of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The report says progress has slowed, become uneven and in some areas completely reversed due to growing health financing gaps, environmental risks, disease outbreaks and weak health systems.

Still, WHO said that some major gains have been achieved over the last decade.

Globally, new HIV infections dropped by 40 per cent between 2010 and 2024, tobacco and alcohol use declined, and the number of people needing treatment for neglected tropical diseases fell by 36 per cent.

Access to basic services also improved significantly. Between 2015 and 2024, nearly one billion more people gained access to safe drinking water, while more 1.2 billion accessed sanitation services.

The WHO African region recorded faster-than-global reductions in HIV and tuberculosis infections. HIV infections in the region fell by 70 per cent, while tuberculosis cases declined by 28 per cent.

However, malaria remains a major concern.

According to the report, global malaria incidence has increased by 8.5 per cent since 2015, pushing the world further away from international reduction targets.

“These data tell a story of both progress and persistent inequality, with many people – especially women, children and those in underserved communities – still denied the basic conditions for a healthy life,” Tedros Ghebreyesus said.

“Investing in stronger, more equitable health systems, including resilient health data systems is essential to target action, close gaps and ensure accountability.”

The report also paints a worrying picture of growing health risks facing women and children.

Anaemia still affects 30.7 per cent of women of reproductive age globally, with little improvement over the past decade. Childhood overweight cases have also risen, reaching 5.5 per cent among children under five years.

WHO further warned that violence against women remains widespread, with one in four women globally experiencing intimate partner violence.

At the same time, progress toward universal health coverage is slowing.

The global index measuring access to essential health services improved only slightly between 2015 and 2023.

WHO estimates that one quarter of the world’s population suffered financial hardship due to medical bills, while 1.6 billion people were either pushed into poverty or remained poor because of out-of-pocket healthcare spending in 2022.

Childhood vaccination coverage has also failed to recover fully after the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.

Although maternal deaths worldwide have declined by 40 per cent since 2000, WHO says the figure remains nearly three times higher than the 2030 target.

Deaths among children under five have fallen by 51 per cent globally, but many countries are still not on track to meet global targets.

The agency also warned about worsening environmental health risks.

Air pollution contributed to about 6.6 million deaths globally in 2021, while poor sanitation, unsafe water and inadequate hygiene caused another 1.4 million deaths in 2019.

“These trends reflect too many deaths that could have been avoided,” Yukiko Nakatani said.

“With rising environmental risks, health emergencies and a worsening health financing crisis, we must act urgently – strengthening primary health care, investing in prevention, and securing sustainable financing to build resilient health systems and get back on track.”

WHO said the Covid-19 pandemic exposed major weaknesses in global healthcare systems.

Between 2020 and 2023, the pandemic was linked to about 22.1 million excess deaths worldwide — more than three times the officially reported Covid-19 deaths.

The report says the pandemic reversed nearly a decade of gains in global life expectancy, with recovery still incomplete in many regions.

WHO also raised concern over poor health data systems, saying many countries still struggle to provide timely and accurate mortality data.

As of the end of last year, only 18 per cent of countries were reporting death data to WHO within one year, while nearly a third had never submitted cause-of-death data.

“Data gaps severely limit the ability to monitor real-time health trends, compare outcomes across countries, and design effective public health responses,” Alain Labrique said.

“Country efforts to invest in stronger systems, digitalisation and improved reporting standards are encouraging and should be sustained – they are essential to enable countries to collect, integrate, analyse and use health data for better decisions”.

WHO said the findings show that while global health efforts are still producing results, the gains remain fragile without stronger investment, prevention programmes and sustainable financing.