Zimbabwe is experiencing a sharp resurgence of malaria, with infections and deaths rising in 2026 and threatening to undo years of progress against the disease.
Figures from the Ministry of Health’s National Malaria Control Programme show that by mid-April more than 65,000 cases and 174 deaths had been recorded — nearly double the number reported during the same period in 2025.
The increase is stark compared with 2024, when about 17,000 cases and 34 deaths were recorded over the same timeframe.
Health advocates and aid agencies say the spike comes amid disruptions to key malaria interventions, following cuts to foreign aid.
The charity Save the Children said the premature closure of the Zimbabwe Assistance Programme in Malaria (ZAPIM), previously one of the country’s largest malaria control initiatives, had led to shortages of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, delays in vector control measures and weakened disease surveillance systems.
“Communities, aid agencies, health workers and the government had been working together for years to beat malaria in Zimbabwe, and we were making real progress. Last year’s aid cuts have hugely set us back,” said Bhekimpilo Khanye, Save the Children’s country director for Zimbabwe and Malawi.
He warned that suspending elimination programmes could quickly reverse hard-won gains.
“When you halt programmes before transmission is fully under control, infections can surge again in vulnerable communities,” he said.
The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) said Zimbabwe recorded 154,000 malaria cases and 423 deaths in 2025, underscoring what it described as growing transmission driven in part by climate change.
Erratic rainfall, flooding and rising temperatures have expanded mosquito breeding sites in several provinces, the group said.
It also cited delays in indoor residual spraying campaigns, insecticide resistance and heavy reliance on donor funding as factors weakening the national response.
Zimbabwe had previously been regarded as a malaria control success story, cutting infections by more than 70% between 2023 and 2024, with some districts nearing elimination.
But health experts now warn that without sustained funding, strengthened community-level interventions and renewed international support, those gains could be lost.
“Malaria remains preventable and treatable, but deaths are rising again,” CWGH said in a statement, calling for urgent and coordinated action to bolster prevention efforts, improve access to treatment and secure long-term financing.