Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the World Malaria Report 2022 published by the WHO on 8 December, what steps he is taking to support the eradication of malaria.
The World Malaria Report 2022 reported that numbers of malaria cases and deaths remained broadly stable in 2021 following an increase in 2020, with 247 million cases and 619,000 deaths. On the 12th December I (Minister Mitchell) gave the keynote speech at the UK Launch of the World Malaria Report. The UK supports the Sustainable Development Goal 3.3 target to end the epidemic of malaria by 2030. Tackling malaria is also closely linked with the UK's ambition to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children given it predominantly impacts pregnant women and children under 5. The UK has pledged £1 billion to the Global Fund's seventh replenishment (2023-2025) which will help save over 1 million lives and avert over 28 million new infections. In addition to this the UK also supports research and development into new tools to address malaria and provides bilateral support to malaria endemic countries to strengthen their health systems.