LATIN AMERICA - Regional Data and Trends.
In 2022, 15 malaria-endemic countries and one territory in the Region of the Americas accounted for an estimated 0.2% of global malaria cases. Three countries – Brazil, Colombia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela – accounted for an estimated 73% of all cases region-wide (Fig. 3.8c).
Between 2000 and 2022, the Region of the Americas made good progress in reducing its malaria burden:
case incidence (cases per 1000 population at risk) fell from 13.1 to 3.6 (Fig. 3.8a); total malaria cases declined by 64%, from 1.5 million to 0.55 million; the mortality rate (deaths per 100 000 population at risk) fell from 0.7 to 0.2 (Fig. 3.8b); total malaria deaths were reduced by 60%, from 850 to 343.However, progress in the Region has suffered in recent years due to an epidemic in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela between 2018 and 2020, as well as increases in several other countries.
Cases rose from an estimated 35 500 in 2000 to over 483 000 in 2017. In 2020, cases reduced by more than half compared to 2019, and there were further reductions observed in 2021 and 2022 (205 000 and 154 000 cases, respectively). Factors contributing to this reduction include restrictions on population movement during the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in the availability and use of malaria diagnosis and treatment commodities.
Meanwhile, estimated cases increased in 2022 in Costa Rica (311), the Plurinational State of Bolivia (1333), Guyana (428), Haiti (17 272), Honduras (3100), Nicaragua (3683) and Panama (4826). In view of recent trends, the Region did not achieve the GTS 2025 milestones for reductions in malaria case incidence and mortality; progress towards these targets was off track by 52% and 48%, respectively (Fig 8.5 a + b).
In Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Panama, case incidence increased by 55% or more in 2022 compared with 2015.
In the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Guyana, estimated increases were between 25% and 55% and in Colombia, the estimated increase in case incidence was less than 25%.
In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Haiti, there was no change in incidence in 2022 compared with 2015. Progress varied across the Region, and some countries bucked the overall regional trend: The Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru all achieved reductions of more than 55% in case incidence between 2015 and 2022 (Fig. 8.5), with Suriname reporting zero indigenous cases for the first time. Over the same period, Honduras was estimated to have reduced its malaria case incidence by between 25% and 55%, and Brazil by less than 25%.
In 2022, three countries saw substantial reductions in the total number of cases compared to 2019: Brazil (–28 000), Colombia (–21 000) and Peru (–9000). That same year, more modest reductions were seen in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala and Mexico, and Suriname reported zero indigenous cases for the first time.
Four countries – Argentina, Belize, El Salvador and Paraguay – were certified by WHO as malaria free in 2019, 2023, 2021 and 2018, respectively.
