The country's malaria cases fell by 32 percent and deaths dropped by 44 percent between 2024 and 2025, with deaths among children under five down almost 60 percent.
Between 2024 and 2025, Burkina Faso reported a decline of 32 percent in malaria cases, falling to around 7.3 million cases. Over the same period, deaths fell from around 3,500 to just under 2,000 -- a 44 percent drop. The number of deaths among children under five dropped from over 2,200 in 2024 to around 1,300 in 2025, representing a decrease of almost 60 percent in this vulnerable demographic. This is remarkable progress in a country that is among the top 10 countries with the highest number of malaria cases and deaths in the world.
The reductions in cases and deaths "represent spectacular progress in the fight against malaria in Burkina Faso," says Dr Pierre Kayende, Country Director of Malaria Consortium Burkina Faso. "This is the result of the combined efforts of all stakeholders involved in malaria control, who successfully implemented several complementary strategies to achieve meaningful results for the health of the population."
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Key strategies include the free distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) to the entire population, as well as indoor residual spraying and larval control. Around 15 million ITNs were distributed in 2025. Indoor residual spraying -- spraying a long-lasting insecticide onto the inside walls, ceilings and other surfaces of homes and structures where people sleep -- was carried out in nine health districts, and larval control -- which entails killing mosquitoes as baby larvae in water before they can mature -- was conducted in twelve health districts.
Two other major innovations have played a key role, he says. The first is the malaria vaccine. The RTS,S/AS01 vaccine was introduced in February 2024 in 27 health districts, and malaria vaccination was scaled up across all health districts with the introduction of the R21 vaccine in August 2025.
The second innovation -- identifying and destroying mosquito breeding sites -- is a strategy that actively involves communities in the fight against malaria. Community distributors of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) identified and, together with local families, destroyed over 2.1 million of these sites, limiting the ability of mosquitoes to breed and spread disease.
"The combination of all these strategies, along with the work of healthcare providers in both public and private health facilities to accurately diagnose and treat confirmed malaria cases, has greatly contributed to the reduction in malaria cases and deaths in 2025," says Dr Kayende.
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Burkina Faso has set a goal of eliminating malaria by 2030, so this represents encouraging progress towards that milestone. "Based on these new data showing reductions in malaria cases and deaths, I can say that we are on the right track toward eliminating malaria by 2030," Dr Kayende says.
"As a technical and financial partner, we encourage all stakeholders involved in the fight against malaria to reaffirm our commitment and support the Ministry of Health in its goal of eliminating malaria by 2030."
