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Following a sustained, century-long effort by Azerbaijan and Tajikistan to stamp out malaria, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has certified the two countries malaria-free for achieving the elimination of malaria in their territories.
The Director-General of the WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus made this known in a press statement on Wednesday.
In his words, “The people and governments of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have worked long and hard to eliminate malaria.
“Their accomplishment is further proof that, with the right resources and political commitment, eliminating malaria is possible. I hope that other countries can learn from their experience.”
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A nation’s status as being malaria-free is formally acknowledged by the WHO through certification of malaria elimination.
A nation is given the certification if it can demonstrate, by rigorous, reliable evidence, that the cycle of indigenous malaria transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes has been broken countrywide for at least the previous three years. A nation must also show that it has the ability to stop transmission from starting up again.
The WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge said “Azerbaijan’s and Tajikistan’s achievement was possible thanks to sustained investment and the dedication of the health workforce, together with targeted prevention, early detection, and treatment of all malaria cases. The WHO European Region is now two steps closer to becoming the first region in the world to be fully malaria-free.”
Azerbaijan detected its last case of locally transmitted Plasmodium vivax malaria in 2012, and Tajikistan in 2014.
With today’s announcement, a total of 41 countries and one territory have been certified as malaria-free by WHO, including 21 countries in the European region.
