Today, Surinam became the first country in the Amazon region to obtain a malaria certification from the World Health Organization (WHO). This historic milestone follows almost 70 years of commitment by the government and Surinam’s people to eliminate the disease in the huge tropical forests and various communities.
Who congratulates Surinam on this remarkable achievement. This certification is a powerful confirmation of the principle that all of the nationality, background or immigration state-guides universal access to the diagnosis and treatment of malaria. Surinam’s steady commitment to equality of health serves as an inspiration for all countries trying for a future without malaria. ”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, General Manager of
With today’s announcement, a total of 46 countries and 1 territory have been certified as a malaria of WHO, including 12 countries in the US region.
“Surinam did everything it took to eliminate malaria and quickly deal with every case, investigate to prevent spread and get involved in communities,” said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization (Paho), who is a regional office. “This certification reflects the years of continuous effort, especially the achievement of remote areas. It means that future generations can grow free from this potentially deadly disease.”
Certification of malaria elimination is granted by where, when a country has proven, in addition to reasonable doubts, that the native transmission chain has been interrupted national for at least the previous three consecutive years.
Dr. Amar Ramadhin, Surinam’s health minister, said: “The existence of malaria means that our population is no longer in danger of malaria. In addition, the elimination of malaria will have a positive impact on healthcare, enhance the economy and boost it.
“At the same time, we recognize that maintaining this regime requires constant vigilance.
Surinam’s road to elimination
Surlyzing malaria control efforts began in the 1950s in the densely populated coastal areas of the country, largely based on interior spraying with DDT pesticides and antimonizing treatment. Until the 1960s, coastal areas had been without malaria and the attention turned to the wooded interior of the country, which hosts different indigenous and racial communities.
Although the inner spraying was successful in coastal areas, its impact was limited inside the country due to the dominance of traditional open -ended houses that offer minimal mosquito protection. In 1974, malaria control was decentralized at Medische Zending, the Suriname Primary Health Service, which also recruited trained health care workers by local communities to provide early diagnosis and treatment.
Increasing mining activities, especially gold mining, often involved in travel between endemic malaria, led to growth in malaria, reaching over 15,000 cases in 2001, the highest rates of malaria transmission in America.
Since 2005, with the support of the World Fund for the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the ability to provide diagnosis has extended significantly with both the improvements in microscopy and the use of a rapid diagnostic test, especially among mobile groups. Artemisinine-based treatments were introduced to Surinam and neighboring countries through studies led by Paho under the Amazon initiative (Ami-Ravreda), backed by the United States. Prevention between high -risk groups was also reinforced through the distribution of nets funded by the World Fund.
By 2006, malaria had been drastically reduced among indigenous populations, urging Surinam to shift its focus to high -risk mobile populations to remote mining areas. To get to these groups-many of which were immigrants from neighboring endemic countries-the country established a network of malaria receiving services, which was hired directly by mining communities. These trained and supervised Community workers provide free diagnosis, treatment and malaria prevention services, play a vital role in the closure of access to areas with difficult projections.
Through ensuring universal access to diagnosis and treatment regardless of the legal status, the development of an extensive network of community health workers and the implementation of national malaria control, including border crossings, Suriname successfully eliminated malaria. The last local transmitted case Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria was recorded in 2018, followed by the final Plasmodium vivax case in 2021.
Preserved leadership commitment and funding
The Surinam government has shown a strong commitment to eliminate malaria, inter alia through the National Malaria Elimination Team, the malaria, the malaria elimination fund and cross -border cooperation with Brazil, Guiana and Guyana. For many years, Paho/who, with the support of the US government, provided technical cooperation throughout the Suriname Malaria campaign. Since 2016 Suriname has also participated in the “Elimination 2025” initiative – a group of countries identified from which it is able to eliminate malaria by 2025.
This success in Surinam is a proof that the elimination of malaria is possible in provocative contexts in the Amazon basin and in the tropical mainland. Certification without malaria of the country plays a critical role in promoting the initiative of the elimination of Paho’s disease, which aims to eliminate more than 30 contagious diseases, including malaria, in the countries of America by 2030.
