Commitment Statement on Malaria
Malaria is a major public health concern. Malaria remains among the leading causes of death for communicable diseases in Guyana.
Guyana is ‘ready to beat malaria’. Guyana commits to halving the number of malaria cases and malaria deaths by 2023, from the baseline 2015 total of 8,329 cases.
Guyana has achieved significant national progress in reducing malaria. The total number of new cases declined by more than 60% between 2010 and 2015.
Malaria, despite these gains, remains highly resilient. A 5% increase in new cases was recorded in 2016 and again in 2017.
Malaria is strongly associated with the gold mining industry which, in Guyana, is located, largely, in the forested hinterland. The highest incidence of malaria has been recorded within regions in which mining is the principal economic activity.
Guyana proposes a four-pronged international support strategy to combat malaria. This involves:
• protecting citizens, against the spread of malaria, by the transfer of technologies;
• preventing and limiting vector-borne infections by the dissemination of quality health information;
• providing improved tools for diagnosing and identifying active cases of malaria, regardless of species; and
• procuring high-quality anti-malarial combination treatment to ensure full cure of infected persons and to avoid drug resistant malaria;
The London Malaria Summit 2018 must emerge with a workable and realistic roadmap to end the global malaria pandemic.
Guyana wishes every success to this Summit.
I thank you
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