Bangladesh is making significant headway in its efforts to control malaria, health officials say.
The country’s Malaria and Parasitic Disease Control Unit of the Directorate General of Health Services reports that the number of deaths due to the vector-borne disease dropped to 47 in 2009, from 154 in 2008.
The Unit’s data indicate that the malaria death toll has declined dramatically since 2002, when there were 588 deaths.
“The government has increased services for the unreached population in remote areas in the border districts to control malaria effectively,” A Mannan Bangali, a World Health Organization (WHO) official for vector-borne disease control in Bangladesh, told IRIN. “Trained staff and volunteers are providing services at the doorstep, and early detection and treatment of malaria has significantly reduced deaths.”
According to the Unit, the number of persons infected with malaria decreased to 63,873 in 2009, from 84,690 in 2008.
Risk in border areas
According to WHO, 33.6 percent of the country’s population - 50.6 million people - are at risk of malaria, primarily in 13 districts along the northeastern and southeastern borders.
“The malaria situation in Bangladesh at present is not alarming except in the bordering hill districts,” Bangali said.
Abul Faiz, a malaria expert at Sir Salimullah Medical College in Dhaka, said assistance from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as a consortium of 21 NGOs, has helped to strengthen and expand malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment programmes.
“Now the cases and deaths have been significantly reduced. A number of activities contributed to this success,” Faiz said, pointing to effective drug treatment, improved detection and more trained health workers. The government and several NGOs have distributed more than 1.6 million insecticide-treated bednets, which have been key in preventing malaria.
Sustaining progress
Malaria was nearly eradicated in Bangladesh during the WHO-supported Malaria Eradication Programme in the 1960s, but the achievements could not be sustained during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. In the early 1970s, malaria re-emerged in the country, and the programme changed its focus to malaria control.
“Now sustaining the progress is the big challenge for us. We have a vision to go for an elimination programme in the future,” said Nazrul Islam, an evaluator with the Unit.
According to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, malaria affects 300 million people in 90 countries around the world, and kills one million people each year - 90 percent of them in Africa, and 9 percent in Southeast Asia. Bangladesh is one of South Asia’s malaria endemic countries.
Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted through infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever, headache and vomiting, and usually appear 10-15 days after the mosquito bite. Left untreated, malaria can become life-threatening.
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The country’s Malaria and Parasitic Disease Control Unit of the Directorate General of Health Services reports that the number of deaths due to the vector-borne disease dropped to 47 in 2009, from 154 in 2008.
The Unit’s data indicate that the malaria death toll has declined dramatically since 2002, when there were 588 deaths.
“The government has increased services for the unreached population in remote areas in the border districts to control malaria effectively,” A Mannan Bangali, a World Health Organization (WHO) official for vector-borne disease control in Bangladesh, told IRIN. “Trained staff and volunteers are providing services at the doorstep, and early detection and treatment of malaria has significantly reduced deaths.”
According to the Unit, the number of persons infected with malaria decreased to 63,873 in 2009, from 84,690 in 2008.
Risk in border areas
According to WHO, 33.6 percent of the country’s population - 50.6 million people - are at risk of malaria, primarily in 13 districts along the northeastern and southeastern borders.
“The malaria situation in Bangladesh at present is not alarming except in the bordering hill districts,” Bangali said.
 Sustaining the progress is the big challenge for us
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“Now the cases and deaths have been significantly reduced. A number of activities contributed to this success,” Faiz said, pointing to effective drug treatment, improved detection and more trained health workers. The government and several NGOs have distributed more than 1.6 million insecticide-treated bednets, which have been key in preventing malaria.
Sustaining progress
Malaria was nearly eradicated in Bangladesh during the WHO-supported Malaria Eradication Programme in the 1960s, but the achievements could not be sustained during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. In the early 1970s, malaria re-emerged in the country, and the programme changed its focus to malaria control.
“Now sustaining the progress is the big challenge for us. We have a vision to go for an elimination programme in the future,” said Nazrul Islam, an evaluator with the Unit.
According to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, malaria affects 300 million people in 90 countries around the world, and kills one million people each year - 90 percent of them in Africa, and 9 percent in Southeast Asia. Bangladesh is one of South Asia’s malaria endemic countries.
Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted through infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever, headache and vomiting, and usually appear 10-15 days after the mosquito bite. Left untreated, malaria can become life-threatening.
mw/at/ds/cb
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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