Stepping up the fight against malaria

Eliminating malaria in countries will require strong political commitment, greater funding and shared solutions. These were the main messages emerging from a side event held during the Seventy-second World Health Assembly – the annual meeting of WHO’s decision-making body.

Ministers and other senior health officials highlighted countries’ progress and lessons learned in the fight against malaria and discussed how to implement the new ”High burden to high impact” approach, with a view to getting the global malaria response back on track.*

Algeria and Argentina certified malaria-free

The meeting opened with a ceremony granting malaria-free certification by WHO to Algeria and Argentina.

In presenting the certificates, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: “Over the last decade, strengthened malaria surveillance systems in both countries meant that every case of malaria was rapidly identified and treated. With free malaria diagnosis and treatment in both countries, everyone received the services needed to prevent, diagnose and cure the disease.”

“I commend the unwavering commitment and perseverance of the people and leaders of Argentina and Algeria,” he added. “Their success serves as a model and inspiration for all malaria-endemic countries.”

The certification is granted when a country proves that it has interrupted indigenous transmission of the disease for at least 3 consecutive years. A national surveillance system capable of rapidly detecting and responding to any malaria cases must be operational, together with an effective programme to prevent re-establishment of the disease.

High burden to high impact

The second part of the event featured a panel discussion moderated by Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, on the “High burden to high impact” approach launched in November 2018 in Mozambique.

According to the World malaria report 2018, there were an estimated 219 million cases of the disease in 2017. On a global scale, no significant progress was made in reducing malaria cases in the period 2015 to 2017. Of particular concern is that, among the 10 highest burden African countries, there were 3.5 million more cases in 2017 over the previous year.

Countries shared their experiences and strategies for reinvigorating progress against malaria including increased funding, expanded community outreach and a better targeting of indoor residual spraying and insecticide-treated nets, the 2 core WHO-recommended vector control tools.

Countries gave concrete examples of how they are adopting the “High Burden to High Impact” response elements to address their specific challenges. The response is based on 4 pillars:

• political will to reduce malaria deaths;
• strategic information to drive impact;
• better guidance, policies and strategies; and
• a coordinated national malaria response.

The event was co-sponsored by Argentina, Benin, Cabo Verde, Colombia, Djibouti, France, Gabon, India, Latvia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Monaco, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal and Viet Nam. Support for the event came from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the International Organisation of la Francophonie, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and the World Health Organization. 

*Approximately 70% of the world’s malaria burden is concentrated in just 11 countries – 10 in sub-Saharan Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania) and India. These countries are pioneering the “High Burden to High Impact” approach. Lessons learned from efforts in this first group of countries will be applied, in due course, to all countries with high transmission of malaria.