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The number of malaria cases worldwide has dropped in recent years but the countries with the biggest outbreaks have made the least progress, according to a new report Tuesday by the World Health Organisation.
Mosquito-borne parasitic disease
The vast majority of malaria cases and deaths are in Africa, where countries have achieved "slower-than-average declines" of about 32 percent in the last 15 years, the U.N. health agency said.
Read: Swaziland likely to be first to eliminate malaria in southern Africa
Elsewhere, cases have dropped by about half. Malaria is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease that mostly strikes children under 5.
The WHO estimated there were about 214 million cases of malaria and 438,000 deaths this year but those estimates are based mostly on modelling.
The U.N. health agency said data is so bad for 31 countries in Africa – including those believed to have the worst outbreaks – that it couldn't tell if cases have been rising or falling in the last 15 years.
Read: Malaria, An African story
The WHO is hoping to wipe out malaria by 2040 despite not having an effective vaccine for it and increasing resistance problems to both drugs and insecticides used to kill mosquitoes.
More studies recommended
The world's first malaria vaccine was recommended for approval this year, but it only protects about one-third of children and multiple doses are required.
The WHO has recommended that more studies be done before deciding how countries should use it.
Read: Malaria deaths in south Africa climb
"This vaccine is not going to be a game-changer," said Jo Lines, a malaria expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who was not part of the WHO's report.
He said while "reliable progress" has been made in reducing malaria cases, more attention needs to be focused on controlling mosquitoes.
Lines said the vaccine – which has taken decades of work and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop – is about as effective at preventing malaria as a cheap bed net.
He said officials should focus more on creating new insecticides.
"Resistance is coming quicker with each new insecticide," he said. "Whether we or the mosquitoes are going to win ... is not yet clear."
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