Despite its size, the mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world and the greatest threat to our global health security. In 2015, mosquitoes killed an estimated 536,000 people. That’s more than lions, wolves, snakes, sharks and alligators combined.
The malaria-transmitting female Anopheles is the most lethal mosquito of all, infecting 214 million people with malaria in 2015 and killing an estimated 438,000, most of them pregnant women and children in Africa.
The world is making great progress against malaria – the global mortality rate from malaria has fallen by 60 percent since 2000 – but we have a long way to go to eliminate this preventable disease. Through continued strong global leadership and smart investments in life saving tools and new innovations, we can be the generation to end malaria.