Europe becomes world’s first region to end malaria: WHO

Europe has become the world’s first region to wipe out Malaria, a mosquito-borne vetor disease with zero cases reported in the year 2015.
It was revealed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its World Malaria Report 2015. Particular region or country is declared Malaria free by WHO after it has zero locally acquired malaria cases for at least three consecutive years.
Key Highlights of Report

• The number of malaria cases fell to zero from 90,712 between 1995 and 2015 in the countries of European region.
• Only 179 cases of malaria were reported in six countries in 2010. The last cases of malaria were reported in Tajikistan in 2014.
• The region was able to wipe out the deadly disease because of strong political commitment, improved detection and surveillance, mosquito control, cross-border collaboration.
• Until the end of World War II, the spread of Malaria was common in southern Europe, including Portugal, Italy, the Balkans and Greece. But the region was declared malaria free in 1975.

In the year 2015, there were 214 million cases of the malaria across the world and it had killed around 438,000 people, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
It should be noted that World leaders have committed to end the malaria epidemic by 2030 as one the goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016