Mozambique: Malaria kills 270 in five months, over 6M cases

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Mozambique: Malaria kills 270 in five months, over 6M cases

6:53 CAT | 18 Jun 2025

File photo: Lusa

At least 270 people died from malaria between January and May this year in Mozambique, which has registered more than six million cases, the government said on Tuesday.

According to updated data from the Mozambique’s government, through the Ministry of Health’s National Malaria Control Programme (Misau), as part of the MOSASWA initiative, which brings together the efforts of Mozambique, Esuatini and South Africa in the fight against the disease, Niassa province leads the way, with 83 deaths in this period.

Until May, Nampula recorded 53 deaths, Sofala and Tete 20 each and Zambézia with 15 people who died from malaria.

The statistics show that the country registered a total of 6,146,600 cases of malaria in five months of the year, with Zambézia province leading the list with 1,482,969, followed by Nampula with 1,465,364, Tete with 539,143, Sofala with 476,333 and Niassa with 459,857 cases.

Government figures indicate that the number of deaths from malaria in the first five months of the year rose by 67% compared to the same period last year, when there were 167 deaths. The overall number of cases in the first five months also rose by 19 % compared to 2024, when 5,183,276 cases were recorded.

The government today called for the active participation of civil society in efforts to eliminate malaria in the country.

“There is an effort by the Mozambican government, but we also want civil society to participate so that we can achieve what we want, which is to be free of malaria,” said Eusébio Chaquisse, from the Ministry of Health, when opening the meeting of the MOSASWA initiative in Maputo.

“The southern region of the country is very close [to eliminating the disease] and we think that eliminating malaria depends on how we position ourselves and how civil society participates,” added the government official.

The MOSASWA meeting discussed the role of civil society organisations in eliminating malaria, calling for increased funding to support efforts to combat the disease, especially at a time when the US government is cutting funding for health programmes.

“There are still challenges that have to do with scarce resources and funding, but they also have to do with changing the behaviour of our communities, where nets are used as fishing tools. The challenge has become more acute because funding from the American government has been withdrawn, which will have an impact on civil society’s contribution,” said the executive director of the Mozambican Association for Concerted Development (Amodec), Gilda Jossias, who organised the MOSASWA meeting.

At least 358 people died from malaria in 2024 in Mozambique, which recorded more than 11.5 million cases and around 67,000 hospitalisations, the Mozambican President said on 25 April, as part of World Malaria Day, calling for greater protection for children.

“It is the most common cause of seeking medical care in the country’s health facilities, with a negative impact on both the health system and other sectors due to absenteeism from school and work and the loss of human life,” he stressed, calling for more efforts to reduce the “burden” of the disease in the country.

Mozambique recorded 6.2 million cases of malaria in the first half of 2024, 22% less than in the same period of the previous year, and the number of deaths caused by the disease fell from 211 to 196, the government announced in August 2024.

The Mozambican authorities previously announced that R21/Matrix-M, the second malaria vaccine for children, developed by Oxford University in the UK and approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in October, would be used in the country.

The vaccine already in use in Mozambique is the second recommended by the WHO, following RTS,S/AS01 in 2021, based on the advice of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG).

Source: Lusa