WHO declares Timor-Leste malaria-free
Timor-Leste has officially been declared free of malaria by the World Health Organization (WHO).
This feat comes just over 20 years after the small Southeast Asian nation gained independence.
WHO said the country had not recorded a single case of locally transmitted malaria in the past three years, meeting the standard required for certification.
It becomes the third country in the WHO’s South-East Asia region to achieve this, following Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Malaria once posed a serious threat to the country’s population.
In 2006, Timor-Leste recorded over 220,000 cases, but through investment, strong leadership, and support from global partners, the government managed to reduce the number to zero.
After independence in 2002, Timor-Leste’s health ministry launched a national programme to fight the disease.
During this period, health workers were trained, mosquito nets were given out for free, and early testing and treatment were made available.
Despite the challenges with the number of health workers among other things, focus was given particularly to remote areas.
International partners like the Global Fund and the WHO also provided funding, advice, and technical support, introducing mosquito control methods such as indoor spraying and improved testing.
Timor-Leste also set up a system to detect new cases quickly, especially at the country’s borders, where new infections could arrive from outside.
“This elimination honours every life lost and every life now saved. We must safeguard this victory with continued vigilance and community action to prevent malaria's re-entry,” Timor-Leste’s health minister Dr Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral said.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
