[2023 World Malaria Report (Status of World Malaria in 2022)]

Malaria is a disease caused by the bite of a female Anopheles spp. mosquito infected with a Plasmodium spp. parasite. Five known species of malaria infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi. Among them, P. falciparum is mainly found in Africa, and P. vivax is mainly found in South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. P. malariae and P. ovale are found in parts of Africa; P. knowlesi is found in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia; and only P. vivax is found in the Republic of Korea. According to a recently released 2023 World Malaria Report, 249 million cases of malaria in 85 countries were reported in 2022. Twenty-nine countries accounted for 95.5% of the cases, with Nigeria accounting for 26.8%, the Democratic Republic of the Congo for 12.3%, Uganda for 5.1%, and Mozambique for 4.2%. In 2022, 608,000 people died; Further, 95.9% of deaths occurred in 29 countries, with the highest number of deaths in Africa and 76.0% occurring in children under 5 years of age. No countries were certified as malaria-free in 2022.