World Malaria Day is commemorated every 25 April. Since 2000, malaria cases in the Western Pacific Region have been reduced 39% from 2.8 million to 1.7 million cases. However, progress has stalled. Between 2019 and 2020, cases in the Region increased by an estimated 300 000 from 1.4 million to 1.7 million. Papua New Guinea accounted for 86% of all cases in the Region in 2020.

WHO is calling on malaria-affected countries, partners and donors to boost investments and efforts to reduce the disease burden through coordinated efforts to strengthen national capacities and ownership as well as funding for scaling up preventive interventions to ensure universal coverage of all at-risk populations in the Region.