Five countries had zero malaria cases in 2018: WHO

Five countries had zero malaria cases in 2018
Question: Which country from Asia has been zero malaria cases in 2018?
(a) China
(b) India
(c) Pakistan
(d) Afghanistan
Answer: (a)
Related facts:
  • According to WHO Four countries from Asia — China, Iran, Malaysia and Timor-Leste — and one from Central America — El Salvador — reported no indigenous cases of malaria in 2018.
  • China and El Salvador reported zero cases for the second consecutive year; Iran, Malaysia and Timor-Leste had zero cases of malaria for the first time in 2018, showed the E-2020 initiative: 2019 progress report.
  • The countries were part of the global health body’s E-2020 initiative, launched in 2016, working in 21 countries, spanning five regions, to scale up efforts to achieve malaria elimination by 2020.
  • From 5,194 malaria cases in 2010, to 85 cases in 2017, Malaysia reported zero cases in 2018.
  • According to the report prompt diagnosis, treatment and surveillance in remote, hard-to-reach regions helped the country achieve the target, two years ahead of the 2020 deadline.
  • In 2018, Iran reported zero indigenous malaria cases as compared to more than 1,800 in 2010.
  • Timor-Leste, that came into existence in 2000, remarkably lowered the disease rate — from a high of 223,002 cases in 2006, to 95 cases in 2016, to zero cases in 2018.
  • India (4 per cent) was among the five countries, the others being — Nigeria (25 per cent), Democratic Republic of the Congo (11 per cent), Mozambique (5 per cent), and Uganda (4 per cent) — that accounted for nearly 50 per cent of all malaria cases worldwide.

Links:

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/five-countries-had-zero-malaria-cases-in-2018-who-65200