The World Health Organization has hailed Sri Lanka’s fight on malaria.
It said Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress in controlling malaria by bringing cases down from 203,000 in 2000 to zero locally acquired cases in November 2012.
Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia said 40 per cent of the global population at risk of malaria lives in the WHO South-East Asia region, home to a quarter of the world’s population. Malaria is endemic in 10 of the 11 countries of the region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Dr. Poonam said Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress in controlling it by bringing cases down to zero locally acquired cases in November 2012. She said the region recently eradicated polio, and “it is time for us to show the same resolve to defeat malaria, dengue and other vector-borne diseases.”
The organization is urging countries to prevent and control all vector-borne diseases such as chikungunya, dengue, kala-azar, lymphatic filariasis and malaria. These diseases account for 17 per cent of the estimated global burden of all infectious diseases.
The WHO made the appeal on the occasion of World Health Day, which falls on April 7th.
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