India and 15 sub-Saharan African countries accounted for almost 80 per cent of malaria cases reported globally last year, according to the WHO’s 2018 World Malaria Report. However, the report said India was the only country to report progress in reducing its malaria cases in 2017 as compared with 2016.

Five countries account for nearly half of all malaria cases - Nigeria (25 per cent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11 per cent), Mozambique (5 per cent), India and Uganda (4 per cent each). In India, 1.25 billion people are at risk of malaria, the report said.

According to the report, targets to reduce global rates of infections and deaths from malaria are not being met. While new cases fell steadily up until 2016, the number rose from 217 to 219 million in 2017, it added.

The targets set by the WHO global technical strategy for malaria calls for a drop in cases and death rates of at least 40 per cent by 2020.

African countries such as Nigeria, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported increases in malaria cases in 2017 compared with 2016 - all greater than half-a-million cases. In contrast, India reported 3 million fewer cases in the same period, a 24 per cent decrease compared with 2016.

While India “had made impressive gains and was on track” to meet the global technical strategy for malaria targets, it still accounted for 4 per cent of the global burden of malaria morbidity and 52 per cent of deaths outside of the WHO African Region, the report said.

India was among the countries that detected high treatment failure rates and responded by changing treatment policies. India and Indonesia are on track to achieve a 20-40 per cent reduction in cases by 2020, it added.

The WHO and its partners have launched a country-led ‘high burden to high impact’ response plan to coincide with the release of the report with the aim of scaling up prevention, treatment and investment to protect vulnerable people, and get reductions in malaria deaths and disease back on track.

One bright spot was Paraguay, which has been certified as malaria-free, the first country in the Americas to be declared so in 45 years.

The number of countries nearing elimination has grown from 37 to 46, and three countries - Algeria, Argentina and Uzbekistan - have requested WHO’s malaria-free certification.

Malaria kills around 6.6 lakh people each year.