Mozambique recorded a 17% reduction in malaria cases in the first nine months, from 10.4 million to 8.7 million cases, the Ministry of Health announced.
© Lusa
21/10/2026
by
Lusa
Mozambique reported a 17% reduction in malaria cases in the first nine months, rising from about 10.4 million cases in the same period from 2025 to 8.7 million, the Ministry of Health announced today.
“ Although these results are encouraging, we know that the disease continues to represent an important challenge for our national response,” said the National Director of Public Health, Quinhas Fernandes, at the opening of the 15th annual meeting of the Malaria Case Management Working Group of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, Maputo.
According to the responsible, Mozambique has about 10.4 million cases in the first nine months from 2025 to 8.7 million cases in the first nine months of this year. The weight of malaria in external consultations also decreased after an increase in cases recorded in 2025 above the trends normally observed in the country.
Despite progress, the person responsible warned that the disease remains one of the main public health challenges in Mozambique.
According to the leader, the country distributed about 14.8 million nets, benefiting equal numbers of people, while more than 1.2 million pregnant women received treated nets during prenatal consultations.
The authorities have also continued intra-house spraying actions in southern provinces of the country, a region that the Ministry of Health currently considers to meet better conditions for the elimination of the disease.
Quinhas Fernandes, however, pointed out the effects of climate change as one of the main obstacles to malaria control.
“ Almost every year we register cyclones. The last floods we recorded in the southern part of the country are in our minds. And all this complicates our fight ", said.
The person responsible defended even greater rigour in the use of available resources and a reinforced focus on epidemiological surveillance, information systems and strengthening the community health network.
Among the priorities identified by the Ministry of Health are the timely diagnosis, the early treatment of patients, the improvement of the reference mechanisms of severe cases and the strengthening of the action of multivalent health agents in communities.
In the intervention, Quinhas Fernandes also advocated a greater use of technological innovation in the fight against disease: “The opportunity that technological evolution and artificial intelligence gives us can ensure that this is used in our favor to speed up our progress.”.
According to the World Malaria Report of 2025 of the World Health Organization, referred to by the person responsible, Africa continues to concentrate more than 90% of the overall cases of the disease.
Data from the Ministry of Health previously sent to Lusa indicate that at least 496 people died of malaria in Mozambique in 2025, an increase of 39% compared to 2024, when 358 deaths were recorded.
At least 49 people died of malaria in the first six weeks of 2026 in Mozambique, between 1,357,891 infected, Mozambican health authorities advanced in February.