Gambella Malaria Pressure Tests Refugee Health Services During Rainy Season
Health services in Gambella are facing sustained malaria pressure amid seasonal rains, displacement and funding constraints, with Kule Refugee Camp reporting more than 61,000 malaria patients treated in 2025.
In short
- Health services in Gambella are facing sustained malaria pressure amid seasonal rains, displacement and funding constraints, with Kule Refugee Camp reporting more than 61,000 malaria patients treated in 2025.
Malaria is placing renewed pressure on health services in Ethiopia’s Gambella region as seasonal rains, displacement and difficult access complicate prevention and treatment, The Reporter said in an August 15, 2026 account from Kule Refugee Camp.
Ethiopia recorded more than 7.3 million confirmed malaria cases and 1,157 deaths in 2024, the country’s highest reported incidence in seven years, according to health data and a World Health Organization report cited in the account.
Kule Refugee Camp, about 70 kilometres west of Gambella city, hosts more than 55,000 refugees. Médecins Sans Frontières data cited by The Reporter show that the camp’s health centre treated 61,399 malaria patients in 2025. The centre recorded more than 164,000 outpatient consultations and over 10,000 inpatient admissions that year while also providing maternal care, vaccination, nutrition and emergency services.
Warm temperatures, prolonged rain, wetlands, waterways and seasonal flooding create favourable breeding conditions for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Cross-border movement with South Sudan and travel between camps and surrounding communities make surveillance and continuity of treatment more difficult.
Prevention measures include insecticide-treated nets, indoor spraying and community health work. The R21 malaria vaccination programme at Kule had fully vaccinated 3,701 children by November 2025, and the cited report associated the programme with a nearly 50 percent reduction in malaria-related deaths compared with 2024. Health workers nevertheless face risks from uncertain humanitarian funding, supply interruptions, insecticide resistance and delays reaching remote communities.
