Algeria and Argentina are both officially free of malaria

The World Health Organization is commending Algeria and Argentina for becoming the latest countries to eliminate malaria.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this achievement "serves as a model for other countries working to end this disease once and for all." Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease, and can be prevented through a vaccine. In 2017, there were 219 million cases worldwide, with 400,000 malaria-related deaths, WHO reports.
Argentina and Algeria were able to eliminate malaria through improved health care, including free diagnosis and treatments, and fast responses to outbreaks. Now, 38 countries and territories are free of malaria, and experts say it's entirely possible to end the disease on a global scale, but there needs to be more funding.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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