In war-torn Burkina Faso, there has been “a major drop in malaria cases and deaths,” due to a malaria vaccine introduced 2 years ago. “Recorded malaria cases fell 32 percent between 2024 and 2025, while deaths fell 44 percent, though officials note that the gains came from several tools working together, including vaccines, bed nets, seasonal prevention drugs, and insecticides,” notes The Doomslayer.
Gavi notes that “At a press briefing in February 2026, Health Minister Robert Kargougou said the total number of recorded malaria cases fell from 10,805,020 in 2024, to 7,329,278 in 2025, a decrease of 32%. Over the same period, deaths fell from 3,523 to 1,979, a drop of 44%. Among children under five, cases declined by 39%, while mortality fell by more than 40%.”
Burkina Faso has about 25 million people, so even having 7 million cases of malaria means the country is very prone to malaria. Burkina Faso is a poor, war-torn country, and about 40% of its territory is occupied by terrorists or rebels, who control an area where over a million people live. Villagers are routinely slaughtered by terrorists in Burkina Faso, and the State Department tells Americans, “Do not travel to Burkina Faso for any reason due to crime, kidnapping, terrorism, and health.”
Malaria cases recently fell by 80% in India, making it safer to travel to.
Last year, there was “a new malaria drug for the first time in 25 years: a combination therapy called GanLum, which cured more than 99 percent of cases in late-stage trials and could help counter rising resistance to older treatments like artemisinin,” notes The Doomslayer.
Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of children annually, yet there hasn’t been a major new drug to fight it in more than 25 years.
Now, Novartis says it has one.
The Swiss company said Wednesday that a potential new treatment cured more than 99% of malaria cases in a late-stage study. The drug candidate may also be able to prevent the spread of drug resistance, a growing threat in sub-Saharan Africa, Novartis said.
The new drug, known as GanLum for its components ganaplacide and lumefantrine, promises the biggest innovation in malaria treatments since the introduction in 1999 of combination therapies using a compound called artemisinin.
A new drug would provide a much-needed new weapon against malaria. Artemisinin-based medicines are still very effective, but resistance to them is spreading, particularly in East and Southern Africa, said David Fidock, professor of microbiology and immunology and medical sciences at Columbia University.
Millions of people in Africa recently received a life-saving malaria vaccine.
Last year, a treatment was discovered for sleeping sickness, a disease that kills 50,000 to 500,000 people per year.
