21 countries may eliminate malaria by 2020
According to a report published by World Health Organisation (WHO), 21 countries including 6 countries from Africa are in a position to eliminate Malaria by 2020. The report also highlights that 9 out of 10 Malaria deaths in the world occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Notably, 25th of April is marked as World Malaria Day and the theme for 2016 is "End Malaria for good".
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a Geneva-based (Switzerland) specialised health agency under the United Nations. Established in 1948, WHO aims to direct and coordinate international health efforts to curb diseases and promote health.
Malaria is a vector-borne disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite which spreads through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquitoe. Malaria affected 214 million people and killed 4,38,000 people in 2015. Fever, chills, headache, vomiting, etc. are some of the symptoms of malaria. According to WHO, 3.2 billion people or half of the world population is vulnerable to this life threatening disease.
According to WHO, between 2000 and 2015, while the incidence of Malaria has declined by 37%, the mortality rate from malaria has reduced by 60%.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has embarked on a programme, the 'WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030' to reduce Malaria cases and deaths by 90% by 2030. One of the targets of 2016-2030 programme is to eliminate malaria in 10 countries by 2020. As per WHO, a country is declared Malaria free if it reports 0 local cases of Malaria for 3 years.
The 21 countries that could eliminate Malaria are China, Malaysia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bhutan, Timor-Leste, and Nepal from Asia. 7 countries from Latin America including Costa Rica, Belize, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Suriname. 6 from Africa including Algeria, Botswana, Cape Verde, Comoros, South Africa and Swaziland. Europe, Central America, and the Caucasus already eliminated Malaria in 2015.
