Malaria cases have entered a sharp spike in Zimbabwe this year after U.S. aid cuts to the country. At this new unprecedented malaria rate, hospitalizations and death tolls are rising.
What's happening?
In the earliest months of his presidency, President Donald Trump slashed critical funding for scientific and medical research as well as national crisis response procedures, cutting medical support for nations like Zimbabwe off at the knees.
In particular, according to the Guardian, these cuts debilitated all malaria research conducted by the Zimbabwe Entomological Support Programme in Malaria, which otherwise helped support the nation's preventative and remedial measures.
As a result, malaria-based deaths in the country have more than tripled since 2024, surging from 45 to 143 between January and May. The number of total cases as of late June approached 120,000, with the count continuing to climb even now as the country struggles without aid.
"The malaria was back with a vengeance straight after [the cuts], and [numbers of] cases that were waning rebounded in 2025, surpassing levels that had ever been seen since the beginning of the [Zento mosquito surveillance programme]," Professor Sungano Mharakurwa, director of Africa University's Malaria Institute, told the Guardian.
Without adequate funding, the Zimbabwe government is unable to distribute sufficient control methods — such as mosquito nets — to those who are most at risk of succumbing fatally to the disease.
"If mosquito nets and preventive medicines for pregnant women are unavailable, lives will be lost," one expert reported. "When the supply of test kits and first-line treatments is disrupted, malaria cases and deaths will spiral."
Why is the rise in malaria cases concerning?
According to the Centers for Disease Control, malaria is a vector-borne illness transmitted through infected mosquitoes, and can lead to a variety of symptoms ranging in severity from headache and fever to coma, kidney failure, and death.
While malaria can't be passed from person to person, remaining unprotected in a mosquito-prone region can unfortunately make contracting the disease rather likely.
Of malaria cases, 94% occur within Africa, per the World Health Organization, but outbreaks are spreading worldwide as the changing climate affects weather and wind patterns and alters the migratory tendencies of mosquitoes.
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What's being done about malaria?
So far, Zimbabwe is straining to adjust to the sudden loss in funding by relying on its own government to bridge a gap worth hundreds of millions in the absence of the U.S.
The African Union has a goal of curbing malaria outbreaks by the year 2030, but our warming planet — along with its rising humidity and moisture in these regions — lends itself to a level of uncontrolled mosquito breeding that will likely interfere with such an ambition.
Emptying out stagnant water and wearing mosquito repellent can protect you in the short term, but to mitigate outbreaks like these altogether, we must address the growing climate crisis as a collective.
You can help by making simple, eco-friendly switches in your daily life, like upgrading to energy-efficient appliances and opting for public transportation — after all, a little goes a long way.
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