SOCIETY
National strategy on elimination of malaria implementing in Azerbaijan
Baku, April 26 (AZERTAC). Today, 99 countries around the world have ongoing malaria transmission, and as many as 3.3 billion people are at risk of being infected.
Since 2008, all malaria-affected countries of the region have finally moved towards elimination and revised their national strategies on malaria to reflect new realities. When a country has zero locally acquired malaria cases for at least three consecutive years, it can request WHO to certify it as malaria free.
A national malaria elimination strategy in Azerbaijan for 2008-2013 and a plan of action, both developed with assistance from WHO/Europe, were launched in November 2008. The aim of the National Strategy is to interrupt local transmission of malaria in Azerbaijan by 2013. The National Strategy is under implementation now.
In Azerbaijan, the malaria (due to P.vivax only) situation began to deteriorate rapidly at the beginning of the 1990s. In 1993-1994, the number of malaria cases increased.
April 25 is the World Malaria Day. The theme for World Malaria Day 2012 - "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria".