Zimbabwe malaria surge from mining

Zimbabwe is experiencing a severe malaria surge in 2026, with cases and deaths sharply rising compared to previous years. Between January and mid-April 2026, 65,399 cases and 174 deaths were recorded, double the deaths from the same period in 2025. Health experts attribute the surge to a combination of factors: artisanal gold mining creating stagnant water pools that breed mosquitoes, US funding cuts under President Donald Trump that discontinued critical malaria control programs like Zento and Zapim II, and climate change causing heavy rains that further boost mosquito breeding. Artisanal miners, who often sleep without nets or repellents, are particularly vulnerable. The funding cuts also disrupted the United States — President s Malaria Initiative and left communities without diagnostic kits and nets. Africa University has used emergency private donations to restart some malaria work, but the overall situation remains dire.