Health Check

Malaria is still the third biggest killer on the planet and despite decades of serious investment it’s a disease that is still very much with us. But that investment is starting to pay off - 2025 has been a big year for new ways of tackling the disease.This week we’re reflecting on the progress made in 2025 – but also asking what impact unprecedented cuts to global health funding might have on whether children living in hot and humid regions of the world contract malaria. Our expert guide is James Tibenderana, an epidemiologist from Uganda. He is Chief Executive at the Malaria Consortium, an organisation that advises governments on best practice for tackling malaria as well as delivering their own programmes. We also hear from Nigeria, the country with the highest rates of malaria in the world. Dr Onyinye Echedike-Elekwa at The University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital on the south coast of the country tells us how it’s been in the clinic this year. The drug known as GamLun marks a huge breakthrough in th