Malaria Cases Spike In Northern Mali

Kidal, Mali, Oct 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Oct, 2020 ) :Malaria cases in northern Mali have spiked, according to medical workers, claiming 23 lives in the often lawless desert region last week alone.

Mali's ministry of health said this week that 59 people have died of malaria in the north since the start of the year, almost double the number of deaths over the same period last year.

Already struggling to curb coronavirus, the poor Sahel country is also fighting a brutal insurgency active in the north and centre of the country.

Medical workers in the north registered 13,000 malaria cases between September 21 and 27, marking an 88 percent increase on the previous week.

Twenty-three people also died over that period, the health ministry said.