WHO calls for P. vivax control and elimination
The World Health Organization launches the technical brief 'Control and elimination of P. vivax malaria' in Delhi, India. This launch comes shortly after the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria (GTS) released at the World Health Assembly in May 2015.
Plasmodium vivax infects 19-50 million people with malaria each year. Most of these cases occur in the Asia Pacific region where more than 2.2 billion people are at risk of infection. P. vivax malaria has not been a priority for national malaria control programmes in the past. These have instead focused on the more pathogenic and deadly falciparum malaria. Malaria related deaths have declined over the last decade, mostly due to a reduction in falciparum malaria. However, this decline has often coincided with an increased number of P. vivax malaria cases.
The technical brief, launched by the WHO yesterday, calls for the control and elimination of P. vivax malaria. Launching the document with Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO), Delhi, Dr Pedro Alonso, Director Global Malaria Programme, WHO HQ Geneva said: “The P. vivax technical brief is a critical document to help the world move forward in the fight against malaria in the coming years.”
The launch of the technical brief was followed by a “Global Meeting on Plasmodium Vivax” attended by National Malaria Control Programme managers and WHO staff from 20–25 high P. vivax burden countries, as well as representatives from research, academia, donor and development fraternities.
Find out more on the WHO website.