The Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Peter Sands has said that climate change is increasing malaria infections.
According to Sands, who spoke at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, huge surges in malaria infections followed recent floods in Pakistan and cyclones in Mozambique in 2021.
In his words, “Whenever you have an extreme weather event, it’s fairly common to have a surge of malaria.”
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He said that mosquito habitats were shifting as a result of climate change, adding that a change in the low temperatures that historically rendered the region unsustainable for mosquitoes has led to malaria becoming more prevalent in the highlands of Africa, particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The largest global fund in the world is managed by Sands, and it makes investments in some of the world’s poorest countries to battle diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
