The number of malaria cases around the world has plateaued after several years of steady decline, leading the World Health Organization to call for a new global response to the deadly disease.
The WHO released a report on Monday finding an estimated 219 million worldwide cases of malaria in 2017, compared to 217 million in 2016, and concluding that progress is stalling worldwide.
The report pointed out that malaria cases had declined from 239 million cases in 2010 to 214 million in 2015. The agency is worried that the trend is now moving in the wrong direction.
“Nobody should die from malaria. But the world faces a new reality: as progress stagnates, we are at risk of squandering years of toil, investment, and success in reducing the number of people suffering from the disease,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Last year, about 70 percent of cases were located 11 countries: India, and 10 countries in Africa.
The report did not say how many cases were in the U.S. in 2017. However the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 1,700 people died of malaria in 2016.
The agency said that it is launching a “high-impact” response plan to support nations with the most malaria deaths. The plan will include establishing the best global policies for ending malaria and implementing a coordinated response to the issue.
WHO said that there are some problematic coverage gaps of the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, which is the primary tool for preventing malaria that comes from mosquito bites.
“In 2017, an estimated half of at-risk people in Africa did not sleep under a treated net,” WHO said in a release.
