A devastating malaria outbreak is sweeping through Ethiopia, exacerbated by conflict and climate change. Lema Tefera, a farmer from the Oromia region, has lost four children to the disease in just one month. “There was no malaria medication and treatment in our village due to the fighting,” he said.
Africa accounts for about 95% of the 250 million malaria cases and over 600,000 deaths globally each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The situation is worsening in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, where a conflict has been raging since 2018, severely disrupting health services.
Experts warn that the combination of climate change and violence has created a “perfect storm” for malaria to spread. Subsistence farmers like Lema are particularly vulnerable. “It was the worst situation I have ever experienced,” he said.
The WHO reported 7.3 million malaria cases and 1,157 deaths in Ethiopia between January and October last year. The figures have doubled since 2023, with Oromia accounting for almost half the cases and deaths.
Gemechu Biftu, executive director of the Oromia Physicians Association, noted that “programmed supplies of anti-malarial drugs have been disrupted due to the armed conflict”. Legesse Bulcha, director of the Nejo General Hospital, said malaria cases had surged in the past three years, accounting for 70% of the hospital’s patients.
Rachelle Seguin, MSF medical co-ordinator, warned that 2024 saw the country’s “highest numbers of malaria cases seen, probably ever”. With the next rainy season approaching, Seguin fears the coming year “could be even worse.”
The situation is further complicated by a US aid funding freeze, which could increase morbidity and mortality from malaria and other communicable illnesses.