2018 World Malaria Report - India and 15 other countries in sub-Saharan Africa accoun for almost 80 % of the malaria cases reported globally

India and 15 other countries in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for almost 80 per cent of the malaria cases reported globally last year, according to a WHO report which notes that a whopping 1.25 billion people in India were at the risk of contracting the mosquito-borne disease.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) 2018 World Malaria Report, however, in an encouraging note said that India was the only country to report progress in reducing its malaria cases in 2017 as compared with 2016

It said five countries to account for nearly half of all malaria cases worldwide were Nigeria (25 per cent), Democratic Republic of the Congo (11 per cent), Mozambique (5 per cent), India and Uganda (4 per cent) both.

Seven of these countries accounted for 53 per cent of all global malaria deaths: Nigeria (19 per cent), Democratic Republic of the Congo (11 per cent), Burkina Faso (6 per cent), Tanzania (5 per cent), Sierra Leone (4 per cent), Niger (4 per cent) and India (4 per cent).