Amid concerns of drug-resistant malaria parasites, representatives of Cambodia, China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam today called for eliminating the vector-borne disease from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) by the year 2030.
The issue of malaria parasites resistance to drugs, even the best available antimalarial medicines, was raised by these six countries at a high-level meeting convened by the Myanmar government in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The presence of such drug-resistant malaria parasites has been detected in five of the six GMS countries, a release by WHO's South East Asia Regional Office here said.
The six countries' representatives said at the meeting that the threat posed by such parasites can be addressed by eliminating the disease altogether from the region, it said.
The representatives from the six GMS countries laid emphasis on urgent and coordinated action, with support from implementing agencies, funders and other partners, to achieve the goal of eradicating malaria from the region, it added.
According to the WHO release, the six nations have agreed to ensure activities to eliminate malaria in the subregion are fully-funded.
They also pledged to improve cross-border collaboration establish an independent oversight body as well as strengthen systems for the identification and timely reporting of malaria infections, including the drug-resistant variety.
Apart from that, they also agreed to provide the best possible prevention, diagnosis and care for all people at risk of malaria, including free services for ethnic minorities and mobile and migrant populations, as part of universal health coverage, the release said.
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