π¦
Malaria
Roughly 600,000 deaths a year β most of them children under five
β Improving
π©Ί Health
π§ Understand
The trend
Malaria death rates roughly halved between 2000 and 2015 thanks to nets and treatment, but progress has plateaued and funding gaps threaten reversals.
The scale
On the order of 250 million cases and 600,000 deaths a year, ~95% in Sub-Saharan Africa. A child dies of malaria roughly every minute.
Root causes
A parasite spread by Anopheles mosquitoes. It persists where health systems are weak, prevention tools are underfunded, and warm climates sustain transmission year-round.
Who suffers most
Children under five and pregnant women bear most deaths. Survivors suffer repeated fevers, anemia, lost schooling and lost income β malaria is both a disease of poverty and a cause of it.
Common misconception
"Malaria is an unsolvable fact of the tropics." It was eliminated from the US and Europe, and dozens of countries have been certified malaria-free in our lifetime. It is beatable β it just isn't funded like it.
β‘ What actually works
Insecticide-treated bed nets
Strong evidence
Long-lasting nets that protect sleeping families from mosquito bites. One of the most-studied interventions in global health.
Cost & effect: A net costs a few dollars; distributing them saves a life for on the order of $5,000 (per GiveWell-style analysis).
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention
Strong evidence
Giving children preventive antimalarial medicine during the high-transmission season.
Cost & effect: Roughly $7 per child protected per season; cost-effectiveness comparable to nets.
Malaria vaccines (RTS,S and R21)
Promising
The first approved malaria vaccines, now rolling out across Africa.
Cost & effect: Moderate efficacy (~50β75% against clinical malaria in the first year); a genuine breakthrough whose real-world impact is still accumulating.
π§ Act
πΆ With your money
Fund org types distributing nets or seasonal chemoprevention β among the most cost-effective donations in the world.
Try the "What Would $X Do?" tool with malaria to see concrete impact per amount.
β° With your time
Join fundraising challenges (runs, streams) that channel money to malaria prevention.
π οΈ With your skills
Data, logistics and translation skills are chronically needed by global-health org types.
π£ With your voice
Malaria is a top candidate when someone asks "where does a donation do the most good?" β say so.
Support replenishments of global health funds when they hit the news.
π£ Share this
β Questions people ask
How can I help with malaria?
There's a concrete step for whatever you can offer. With your money, fund org types distributing nets or seasonal chemoprevention β among the most cost-effective donations in the world. With your time, join fundraising challenges (runs, streams) that channel money to malaria prevention. With your skills, data, logistics and translation skills are chronically needed by global-health org types. With your voice, malaria is a top candidate when someone asks "where does a donation do the most good?" β say so.
What is the most effective way to reduce malaria?
The approaches with the strongest evidence: Insecticide-treated bed nets: Long-lasting nets that protect sleeping families from mosquito bites. One of the most-studied interventions in global health. A net costs a few dollars; distributing them saves a life for on the order of $5,000 (per GiveWell-style analysis). Seasonal malaria chemoprevention: Giving children preventive antimalarial medicine during the high-transmission season. Roughly $7 per child protected per season; cost-effectiveness comparable to nets.
Where should I donate to help with malaria?
Impact Compass doesn't name individual charities. The higher-leverage path is to back the interventions that work best here (Insecticide-treated bed nets, Seasonal malaria chemoprevention) and to choose organizations by how transparently they deliver them. Compare organization types for this cause with the free tools linked above, or give useful items directly through Givelink.
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Rough figures for context, drawing on: WHO Β· Our World in Data Β· GiveWell. Approximations, not citations. Last reviewed 2026-07-16.
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