What it is
Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes. In children it can progress to severe illness quickly. The recommended sequence is diagnostic testing followed, where the test is positive, by treatment with an artemisinin-based combination therapy. Coverage measures whether children with fever were taken for care, tested, and treated.
Why it matters
What malaria care can provide
- 01The burden falls on young childrenThere were an estimated 282 million malaria cases and 610,000 deaths in 2024. The WHO African Region carried about 95 per cent of those deaths, and roughly three quarters of deaths in that region were among children under five.
- 02Testing should precede treatmentFever has many causes. Diagnostic testing distinguishes malaria from other febrile illness, so that antimalarials reach the children who need them and other causes are not missed.
- 03It is a global commitmentReducing malaria is measured under SDG indicator 3.3.3, within Target 3.3 on ending the epidemics of malaria and other communicable diseases.
- 04Prevention and treatment work togetherInsecticide-treated nets and preventive medication during pregnancy reduce transmission and severe outcomes alongside prompt testing and treatment.
Where we are
Diagnostic testing is low relative to reported treatment
Advice or treatment is sought for about 66 per cent of children under five with a fever. Around 24 per cent have a finger or heel stick indicating a diagnostic test, and about 36 per cent of children with fever receive an artemisinin-based combination therapy.
Treatment therefore exceeds testing. This reflects how the indicators are constructed rather than a claim that children are over-treated: the treatment estimate is measured among all children with fever, not among children with a confirmed malaria diagnosis. The two estimates are consistent with substantial gaps in diagnostic testing, but they are population measures and do not establish whether any individual child who received treatment was tested.
Malaria care among children under five with fever. These are parallel measures, not steps in a sequence — each has a different construction. Select an indicator to see coverage.
23.8%coverage
MNCH global aggregates, February 2026
All three estimates are measured among children under five who had a fever in the two weeks preceding a survey. Treatment is measured among all children with fever, not among confirmed malaria cases, which is why it exceeds diagnostic testing and why these figures should be interpreted with caution.
What is measured
The denominator is children with fever, not children with malaria
The denominator matters here. Antimalarial treatment coverage is measured among all children who had a fever in the two weeks preceding a survey, rather than among children with a confirmed malaria diagnosis. Fever is a symptom of many illnesses.
As a result, the treatment estimate can exceed the testing estimate without any inconsistency, and it should not be read as the share of malaria cases that were correctly treated.
- Care-seeking for fever
- The percentage of children under age five with a fever in the two weeks preceding the survey for whom advice or treatment was sought from any source.
- Diagnostic testing
- The percentage of children under age five with a fever in the two weeks preceding the survey who had a finger or heel stick, indicating that blood was taken for a diagnostic test.
- Antimalarial treatment
- The percentage of children under age five with a fever in the two weeks preceding the survey who received an artemisinin-based combination therapy.
Read these figures with care
- Treatment is measured among all children with fever rather than among confirmed malaria cases, and thus should be interpreted with caution.
- A finger or heel stick is used as a proxy for diagnostic testing. It records that blood was taken, not that a malaria test was performed or that a result was returned.
- Fever is caregiver-reported and not clinically confirmed.
- Malaria transmission is seasonal in most settings, so the timing of a survey affects both the number of children with fever and what caused it.
Where to get the data
Where to find the data
References
- World Health Organization, World Malaria Report 2025 (2024 estimates).
- UNICEF, Malaria in Africa: Progress and prospects.
- United Nations, Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.3.3, malaria incidence per 1,000 population.
Related topics
Copy last reviewed July 2026.