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Global efforts to curb malaria is really proving life savior. The program has saved the lives of 3.3 million people since 2000, decreasing the death rates of mosquito-borne disease by 45 percent. Among children under 5, the death rate has reduced to almost 50 percent, the World Health Organization reported.

In its World Malaria Report 2013, WHO said that out of 3.3 million lives, majority of them were in the 10 countries that were with the highest malaria burden.

“Investments in malaria control, mostly since 2007, have paid off tremendously,” said Ray Chambers, the United Nations Secretary-General’s special envoy for malaria according to Reuters.

The report also mentioned that child death fell to fewer than 500,000 in 2012.

“This remarkable progress is no cause for complacency: absolute numbers of malaria cases and deaths are not going down as fast as they could,” WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan said in the press release.

In total, there were estimated 207 million cases of malaria last year. Among those it caused around 627,000 deaths. These statistics were based from the information from 102 countries with malaria transmission.

“The fact that so many people are infected and dying from mosquito bites is one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century,” added Dr. Chan.

Although malaria is endemic in more than 100 countries, but some really simple precautionary steps can help in prevention, such as use of bed nets, and appropriate indoor spraying.

The report further warned that an estimated 3.4 billion people are still at risk for malaria. These are mostly from southeast Asia and in Africa which contribute to 80 percent of the cases occurred.