--- description: The mortality rate decreased by 47% worldwide since 2000, and infections went from 173 million the same year to 128 million in 2013. title: Malaria Deaths Have Nearly Halved Since 2000 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [infectious diseases](/tag/infectious-diseases/) ## infectious diseases Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Malaria Deaths Have Almost Halved Since 2000 Says WHO Report by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2014 10:09 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2014 10:09 AM CUT Global deaths from malaria, as well as the number of overall malaria cases, have [reduced dramatically](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/malaria-control/en/ "undefined") in the last thirteen years, the World Health Organization said in a statement on Tuesday. According to the _World Malaria Report 2014_, the mortality rate for the disease decreased by 47% worldwide since 2000, and the number of people infected by it went from 173 million the same year to 128 million in 2013. “We have the right tools and our defenses are working,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. “But we still need to get those tools to a lot more people if we are to make these gains sustainable.” The report attributed the progress combating malaria to increased access to insecticide-treated mosquito nets and enhanced diagnostics and treatment, but admitted that there is still a lot of work to be done. The increased susceptibility to the disease in Ebola-affected countries like Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is an added cause for concern. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3624926/malaria-deaths-halved-who/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3624926/malaria-deaths-halved-who/"},"headline":"Malaria Deaths Have Almost Halved Since 2000 Says WHO Report","datePublished":"2014-12-09T10:09:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:40:51.124Z","description":"But eliminating the disease altogether remains an uphill task","url":"https://time.com/3624926/malaria-deaths-halved-who/","keywords":["infectious diseases","Africa","Sierra Leone","Malaria","deaths","ebola","Guinea","Liberia"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-diseases/","name":"infectious diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3624926/malaria-deaths-halved-who/","name":"Malaria Deaths Have Almost Halved Since 2000 Says WHO Report"}}]}] ```