Maldives and Sri Lanka have maintained their malaria-free status
KATHMANDU, MAY 5
The World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region today renewed its commitment to eliminate malaria by 2030, with the countries, including Nepal, pledging accelerated action and greater efforts at the sub-national and community levels.
Addressing a virtual seminar on 'Malaria High Burden to High Impact,' Poonam Khetrapal Singh said, "We need support of all the leaders, policy makers, development partners, donors, private sector, non-governmental organisations, civil society, and public to actively support our commitments to accelerate progress in malaria-free region."
At the seminar, ministers of health of this region and the WHO endorsed a statement on Renewed Commitment for Malaria Elimination. The renewed commitment calls for greater efforts to get back on track, with ownership and governance of actions towards elimination being devolved to sub-national and community levels. It calls for urgently scaling up proven implementation strategies, and adopting newer and innovative strategies while making such new investments, vector control approaches, diagnostics, antimalarial medicines, and other tools to speed the pace of progress against malaria.
In 2020, the region had five million estimated cases and 8,900 estimated deaths - 80 per cent less cases and 77 per cent less deaths compared to2010 - and the largest decline in any of the WHO regions.
While applauding efforts made by the countries that enabled WHO South-East Asia to become the only WHO region to achieve 2020 global milestone of reducing malaria cases and deaths by 40 per cent compared to 2015, the statement cautioned that the achievements being made so far were not enough to reach elimination targets. According to the WHO, Maldives and Sri Lanka have maintained their malaria-free status. Eliminating malaria by 2025 continues to be a real possibility in Bhutan, DPR Korea, Nepal, Thailand, and Timor– Leste. "We have a long way to go to eliminate malaria in all the countries. The region is at a crossroads in response to malaria elimination. Over the years, we have witnessed either a stagnation or at times reduction in overall funding, contrary to the undeniable need for an increase in funding necessary for malaria elimination," Dr Khetrapal Singh said.
The regional director called for accelerating efforts to attain and maintain malaria elimination in all the countries by implementing key strategic interventions outlined in the Regional Action Plan 2017–2030.
These include ensuring universal access to malaria diagnosis and treatment by enhancing and optimising case management, universal access to malaria prevention by enhancing and optimising vector control, and increasing sensitivity and specificity of malaria surveillance.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 06, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
