The World Health Organization (WHO) recently certified Azerbaijan and Tajikistan as malaria-free. Both countries have succeeded in eliminating malaria from their territories.
Also, this certification comes after a century-long effort to stamp out the disease.The WHO announced this in a statement on Wednesday.
The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, says that both Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have worked long and hard to achieve this feat. Further, this accomplishment is proof that, with the right resources and political commitment, total eradication of malaria is possible. He is hoping that other countries can learn from this.
Again, the certification of malaria elimination is the official recognition by the WHO of a country’s malaria-free status. This certification is only granted with due process. The country has to show—with rigorous, credible evidence—that the chain of indigenous malaria transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes has been interrupted nationwide. This must be for at least the past three consecutive years. Furthermore, a country must also demonstrate the capacity to prevent the re-establishment of transmission.
Azerbaijan and Tajikistan could only achieve this due to sustained investment and the dedication of their workforces. In addition, there was targeted prevention, early detection, and treatment of all malaria cases.
Meanwhile, “the WHO European Region is now two steps closer to becoming the first region in the world to be fully malaria-free,” said the WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge. Azerbaijan detected its last case of locally transmitted Plasmodium vivax malaria in 2012, and Tajikistan in 2014.
Finally, with today’s announcement, a total of 41 countries and one territory have been certified as malaria-free by the WHO. Among them 21 countries are in the European region.