SADC malaria elimination efforts face funding and climate challenges

Malaria Control Efforts Face Setbacks Across SADC Countries

Malaria elimination efforts across the Southern African Development Community face growing challenges as rising case numbers and severe funding shortages make the World Health Organization target to eliminate the disease by 2030 harder to reach, The Conversation reported. Over the past two years, four countries in the region—the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Angola, and Tanzania—have shouldered some of the heaviest malaria burdens globally, accounting for 22.9% of the world’s total cases. National programs are increasingly overstretched while handling overlapping threats from climate extremes and drug resistance.

The sudden end of United States government funding for essential malaria control in 2025 severely hampered the Global Fund in meeting its US$18 billion replenishment target for Grant Cycle 8. Consequently, country allocations running from 2026 through 2028 are averaging 18% lower than previous cycles. Grant recipients must now make difficult choices about which populations to protect and where to deploy resources, forcing them to scale back the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets and vital infection-prevention drugs.

Climate Disasters and Rising Displacement Drive Infections Higher

Extreme weather events linked to the La Niña weather system triggered severe flooding across several SADC countries in early 2026, destroying infrastructure and displacing local communities. These floods directly accelerated malaria transmission in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. Mozambique recorded a 55% increase in malaria cases during the first six weeks of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe reported 65,399 cases in the first quarter of 2026, roughly double the total from the first quarter of 2025.

Displaced populations frequently cross borders to access essential services, placing immense strain on already overburdened healthcare facilities and increasing the risk of drug stockouts. The International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that the SADC region hosted approximately 11.4 million forcibly displaced individuals in 2025, representing a 35% increase from 2023. While southern Africa anticipates hot, dry conditions from an expected “super” El Niño, heavy rains forecast for east and central Africa threaten to trigger further population movements and disease spread into the SADC region.

Malaria Parasite Mutations Threaten Treatment Efficacy Across the Region

Genetic changes in the malaria parasite have caused recommended treatments to lose effectiveness in parts of the region. However, many SADC countries lack the laboratory capacity to identify and analyze this emerging resistance. Without regional genomics hubs, health authorities face a heightened risk of drug-resistant outbreaks and preventable deaths. At the same time, national programs face a severe shortage of skilled entomologists to monitor mosquito populations and track insecticide resistance, leaving vector control efforts operating with limited empirical guidance.

While South Africa largely funds its own national malaria program, most other countries in the region remain heavily dependent on external donor support. Experts argue that domestic governments must increase local financial investments to bridge the growing funding gaps and maintain critical elimination activities as international aid contracts.