El Salvador has been officially certified as malaria free

Today, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria welcomes the news that El Salvador has been officially certified malaria free by the World Health Organization (WHO).

El Salvador is the first country in Central America to receive this award, granted to countries that have had at least three consecutive years of zero autochthonous cases of malaria, and the third in the Americas region to be certified in recent years, after Paraguay in 2018 and Argentina. in 2019.

Globally, a total of 38 countries and territories have reached this milestone and 21 countries have recorded at least three consecutive years of zero cases of malaria since 2000.

Despite COVID-19 putting significant pressure on the country’s health systems in 2020, El Salvador has managed to maintain zero cases of malaria during the pandemic by taking advantage of its malaria diagnosis, treatment and surveillance systems.

Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, Executive Director of the RBM Partnership says:

“The RBM Alliance congratulates El Salvador for its incredible achievement of being certified malaria free and is committed to supporting all countries affected by malaria to reach this milestone. With each country eliminating this ancient and deadly disease, the world map of malaria shrinks and we take another step towards a world free of malaria. El Salvador’s remarkable commitment to achieving and maintaining zero malaria, even in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, may inspire other countries on their path to elimination. “

El Salvador’s Ongoing Commitment to End Malaria

More than 5,000 community volunteers and vector control personnel in El Salvador are dedicated to closely monitoring and preventing the resurgence of malaria. The country also takes a multisectoral approach to extend malaria control and elimination efforts outside the health sector. Strengthening these national efforts, El Salvador also collaborates with neighboring countries through the Regional Initiative for the Elimination of Malaria in Central America (RMEI) to inform strategies, consolidate processes, and prevent malaria from crossing the country’s borders.

While funding for the global fight against malaria has stagnated in recent years, national commitment and investment in malaria control in the Americas, including El Salvador, accounted for 87% of funding in 2018-2019 . El Salvador’s national investments were also complemented by technical support and catalytic resources from global partners such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / ​​WHO, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Global progress to end malaria

Today, more countries than ever are close to eliminating malaria. Between 2000 and 2019, the number of countries with fewer than 100 indigenous cases of malaria, a strong indicator that malaria elimination is within reach, increased from 6 to 27.

In 2015, the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria set the ambitious goal of eliminating malaria in 10 countries by 2020. Since then, 10 countries have reached this goal, including Paraguay, Argentina, Uzbekistan and Algeria. Malaysia and China have also registered zero cases of malaria for three consecutive years.

WHO awards the certificate of elimination of malaria when a country has demonstrated, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the chain of indigenous transmission has been interrupted throughout the country for at least the previous three consecutive years.

Eradicating malaria around the world would save and improve millions more lives and unlock trillions of dollars in economic potential, yet it is only possible with continued political leadership, increased funding to expand access to life-saving tools and development, and delivery of transforming tools.