Monthly Archives: April 2014

GENEVA¦ 24 April 2014 – On World Malaria Day (25 April), the World Health Organization (WHO) is launching a manual to help countries to assess the technical, operational and financial feasibility of moving towards malaria elimination.

WHO’s new guide, From malaria control to malaria elimination: a manual for elimination scenario planning, will provide these countries with a comprehensive framework to assess different scenarios and timelines for moving towards elimination, depending on programme coverage and funding availability.
 
“Increased political commitment and the expansion of global malaria investments have saved some 3.3 million lives since 2000,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General at WHO. ”Countries where malaria remains endemic now want to build on this success.”
 
Since 2000, there has been a 42% reduction in malaria mortality rates globally, and a 49% decline in the WHO African Region. This progress has led some malaria-endemic countries, even those with historically high burdens of malaria, to start exploring the possibility of elimination. 
 
But although many countries have the political will to commit to elimination, technical, operational and financial obstacles remain, particularly in countries that have a high disease burden.
 
From control to elimination
The WHO manual will help countries assess what resources they need to reduce malaria transmission to very low levels, i.e. the point at which focused elimination programmes can start in earnest. It will also help them consider appropriate timelines and provide them with essential knowledge for long-term strategic planning for malaria programmes.
 
“This long-term view on malaria is critical: it is vital to plan for the period after elimination,” says Dr John Reeder, Director of WHO’s Global Malaria Programme. “If interventions are eased or abandoned, malaria transmission can re-establish relatively quickly in areas that are prone to the disease, leading to a resurgence in infections and deaths.”
 
Countries nearing elimination 
Having reduced malaria transmission to very low levels and re-oriented their malaria programme activities, 19 countries are currently classified by WHO as being in the “pre-elimination or elimination phase”. Seven more countries have reduced transmission to zero and are in the “prevention of re-introduction phase”.
In recent years, the WHO Director-General has certified four countries malaria-free: the United Arab Emirates (2007), Morocco (2010), Turkmenistan (2010) and Armenia (2011).
 
World Malaria Day 2014
World Malaria Day was instituted by WHO Member States during the 2007 World Health Assembly. It is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria control and elimination. The theme for the 2013-2015 campaign is: Invest in the future. Defeat malaria.
There were an estimated 207 million cases of malaria in 2012, causing over 600 000 deaths. Malaria transmission occurs in 97 countries and territories around the world, inflicting the heaviest toll on countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
 
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Notes to editors:
From malaria control to malaria elimination: a manual for elimination scenario planning was produced in collaboration with colleagues from the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Imperial College United Kingdom, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Southampton, and the Global Health Group at the University of California. It can be downloaded from:
http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/atoz/9789241507028/en/index.html
WHO factsheet on malaria:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/
 
For more information 
Mr Tarik Jasarevic, WHO Communications Officer
Office: +41 22 791 5099, Mobile: +41 79367 6214 , Email: jasarevict@who.int

FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2014

OPENING NIGHT OF MALARIA MUSEUM, World Malaria Day, 25th April ,2014

FREE TO PUBLIC

MALARIA MUSEUM Dublin’s very own Pop-up Malaria Museum will open in TMB’s headquarters at the top of Grafton Street on 25th April 2014. The Malaria Museum will be a quirky experiential space, educating visitors with a variety of historical artefacts and interactive art works.

While the pop-up museum will coincide with World Malaria Day, on April 25th, making Dublin part of a Global conversation about malaria, the Malaria Museum website will remain a permanent virtual space to bring together the different voices from around the world that are working to end malaria.

https://www.facebook.com/malariamuseum

The topic for 2014 is vector-borne diseases

World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is selected that highlights a priority area of public health. The Day provides an opportunity for individuals in every community to get involved in activities that can lead to better health.

The topic for 2014 is vector-borne diseases.

http://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2014/event/en/

What are vectors and vector-borne diseases?

Vectors are organisms that transmit pathogens and parasites from one infected person (or animal) to another. Vector-borne diseases are illnesses caused by these pathogens and parasites in human populations. They are most commonly found in tropical areas and places where access to safe drinking-water and sanitation systems is problematic.

The most deadly vector-borne disease, malaria, caused an estimated 660 000 deaths in 2010. Most of these were African children. However, the world’s fastest growing vector-borne disease is dengue, with a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over the last 50 years. Globalization of trade and travel and environmental challenges such as climate change and urbanization are having an impact on transmission of vector-borne diseases, and causing their appearance in countries where they were previously unknown.