SEAR/PR/1557
New Delhi : Approximately 1.3 billion people in South-East Asia continue to be at risk of malaria, even though substantial progress has been made in controlling the disease. With support from WHO and other partner agencies, countries are aiming to reduce malaria cases and deaths by 75% by 2015 (from year 2000) and contain resistance to the antimalarial drug artemisinin, with the long-term goal of eliminating the disease. On World Malaria Day, WHO calls on all Member States and partners to increase investment in malaria.
South-East Asia bears 15% of the global burden of malaria cases, second only to Africa. Malaria is endemic in 10 of the 11 Member States of WHO’s South-East Asia Region. Maldives has been malaria-free since 1984. WHO estimates that there were 25 919 000–41 866 000 cases and 31 100–60 300 deaths due to malaria in the Region in 2010.
“Malaria impacts the socioeconomic development of a country, affecting thousands of people working in key development areas such as mining, agriculture and agroforestry, roads, dams and others, ” said Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region. “Political will for urgent, collective action supported by greater investment is needed to prevent Malaria resurgence,” he added.
More funds are needed to ensure more people, especially those living in high-risk areas, have access to key interventions such as long-lasting insecticidal nets, rapid diagnostic tests and laboratory equipment to detect the disease, and artemisinin-based combination therapy. There is a critical need to invest in strengthening technical and managerial capacities. In addition, funds are needed for research to develop new drugs, new tools to control outdoor transmission and to design innovative delivery mechanisms to control malaria among migrant workers and hard-to-reach populations.
“Those most vulnerable to malaria include tribal communities, migrant populations, subsistence farmers and those working in development projects such as agroforestry, hydropower dams, roads, irrigation projects, mining and rubber plantations,” said Dr Samlee. “The corporate sector, agriculture, forestry, urban development and roads sector, and others. must come together to protect these people from malaria.”
Progress in controlling the disease has been encouraging. The key interventions, such as long-lasting insecticidal nets, rapid diagnostic test and artemisinin-based combination therapy, have been scaled up. Reported malaria cases dropped by 43% from 5 968 249 in 2003 to 3 401 898 in 2011, and malaria deaths declined by 68% from 4482 in 2003 to 1819 in 2011. Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic Korea, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are aiming for elimination of malaria. In Sri Lanka, there were only 23 indigenous cases in 2012 compared with 210 039 in 2000, and there were no deaths due to malaria in the past five years. Similarly, in Bhutan there were only 82 cases in 2012 compared with 6995 in 2000, but one malaria death was recorded in 2012. Malaria elimination at the subnational level is progressing well in Indonesia, and malaria control services are being expanded in high-risk provinces in the eastern part of the country. In Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand malaria transmission is now limited to focal areas in a few districts.
These achievements, however, could unravel in the face of new challenges, particularly the growing threat of resistance to the most effective antimalarial drug, artemisinin. Two countries in the Region, Myanmar and Thailand, as well as Cambodia and Viet Nam in WHO’s Western Pacific Region, are particularly affected.
On the occasion of World Malaria Day 2013, WHO will launch emergency response to artemisinin resistance in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The emergency response includes the establishment of a WHO Regional hub in Phnom Penh to support containment efforts and has received financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and AusAID. In addition, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has recently announced the allocation of US$ 100 million to tackle this threat over the next three years. While these are significant steps forward, the funding gap remains substantial. WHO currently estimates that an additional US$ 300–350 million would be required in 2013–2015 to scale up malaria control and containment activities across the affected countries.
WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises the following 11 Member States: Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.