This archive report was first published on 8 August 2019.
Published on August 8, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that malaria cases have reached epidemic proportions in Burundi, with over five million cases since the start of the year and more than 1,800 deaths.
However, Burundi's Health Minister Thaddée Ndikumana disputed these figures, stating that the country had recorded 4.3 million cases and 1,400 deaths this year.
He claimed that these numbers were lower compared to 2017, when 4.9 million cases and 4,300 deaths were reported.
Malaria, spread through the bite of female mosquitoes, kills almost half a million people worldwide each year.
