GENEVA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- A million lives were saved last year using new tools to fight malaria, but this progress is under threat from rising drug resistance, according to a report released Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Wider use of new tools against malaria, including dual-ingredient nets and WHO-recommended vaccines, helped to prevent an estimated 170 million cases and one million deaths in 2024, according to the WHO's annual world malaria report.

In 2021, the WHO approved the world's first malaria vaccines, and since then, 24 countries have introduced the vaccines into their routine immunization programs. Seasonal malaria chemoprevention has also been expanded and is now being implemented in 20 countries, reaching 54 million children in 2024, an increase from about 0.2 million in 2012.

Progress is also being made in eliminating malaria. To date, a total of 47 countries and one territory have been certified malaria-free by the WHO: Cabo Verde and Egypt were certified in 2024, and Georgia, Suriname, and Timor-Leste in 2025.

Nevertheless, there were an estimated 282 million malaria cases and 610,000 deaths in 2024 - roughly nine million more cases than the previous year. An estimated 95 percent of these deaths were in the WHO African Region, with most occurring among children under five. The report shows that antimalarial drug resistance is growing and stands in the way of achieving malaria elimination.

Antimalarial drug resistance has now been confirmed or suspected in at least 8 countries in Africa, and there are potential signs of declining efficacy of the drugs that are combined with artemisinin.

"Increasing numbers of cases and deaths, the growing threat of drug resistance, and the impact of funding cuts all threaten to roll back the progress we have made over the past two decades," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

However, the WHO head remains optimistic, saying that "with the leadership of the most-affected countries and targeted investment, the vision of a malaria-free world remains achievable." ■