The number of people dying from malaria remains high in East Africa despite WHO reports that the number of people dying from malaria globally has fallen sharply.

According to the WHO Malaria Report 2014, about 20,000 deaths were reported in East Africa in 2013 with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania ranked among the countries in sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 90 per cent of the estimated number of P. falciparum infections by number of infections in all ages.

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Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, the report shows, have the highest number of deaths caused by malaria in the region with Tanzania reporting the highest number of 8,526, Uganda 7,277 and Burundi 3,411.

Kenya and Rwanda reported the lowest malaria deaths in 2013 of 360 and 409 respectively.

Globally, there were an estimated 198 million malaria cases in 2013, 82 per cent of which were in the African region. Malaria was responsible for an estimated 584,000 deaths worldwide in 2013, killing an estimated 453,000 children under five years of age.

Apart from Rwanda, which reported the same number of fatalities as last year, all the East African countries reported an increase in malaria deaths.

Testing improves

However, the WHO report shows that access to accurate testing and effective treatment has significantly improved worldwide. Analysis across sub-Saharan Africa reveals that despite a 43 per cent population increase, fewer people are infected or carry asymptomatic malaria infections every year: the number of people infected fell from 173 million in 2000 to 128 million in 2013.

The report says that between 2000 and 2013, access to insecticide-treated bed nets increased substantially. In 2013, almost half of all people at risk of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa had access to such protection, a marked increase from just three per cent in 2004. Between 2000 and 2013, malaria admission rates decreased by 75 per cent in Eritrea, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Given the intense malaria transmission in the worst-affected countries, including the East African countries, which saw an estimated 6.6 million malaria cases in 2013, WHO said it has issued new guidelines on temporary measures to control the disease during the Ebola outbreak, including administering anti-malarial drugs even when patients have not been tested for malaria.