SEATTLE (CBS Seattle) – A new study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington says approximately 1.2 million humans die each year from malaria, a much higher figure than the previously estimated 600,000.

The authors of the study, which was paid for by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, added that 58% of deaths occur in children under the age of 5.

While malaria mortality has significantly dropped in recent years due to international anti-malaria efforts, the number of people who died annually between 1980 and 2010 rose from 1 million to 1.8 million in 2004.

The researchers say that malaria death rates are highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Click here to read more about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s efforts against malaria.