Bangladesh has recently joined the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) in order to intensify its malaria elimination initiatives.
The APMEN is a 16-country partnership that will help Bangladesh learn from experiences and best practices of other countries facing similar challenges.
Malaria is endemic in 13 eastern and north-eastern districts of the country with approximately 13.25 million people at risk. Around 80% of malaria cases are reported from three Chittagong Hill Tracts districts with a total population of approximately 1.6 million.
The mission of the network is to collaboratively address the unique challenges of malaria elimination in the region through policy measures, advocacy, capacity building, knowledge exchanges and building the evidence base.
The APMEN brings together countries in the Asia-Pacific region around the common goal of eliminating malaria and connects them with a broad range of regional and global partners to develop best practices for eliminating the disease.
It was learnt that the ICDDRB played a vital role in facilitating this partnership by initiating dialogue between the APMEN and the Bangladesh government.
The ICDDRB itself joined the APMEN as an institutional partner in August 2013 and Professor Maxine Whittaker, a member of ICDDRB’s Board of Trustees, is also a member of the APMEN joint secretariat.
Moreover, ICDDRB’s field site on malaria in Bandarban, which allows researchers access to a large study population, makes it a valuable partner in this regional alliance as many APMEN members lack suitable field sites, according to an ICDDRB press release on October 8.
Professor Be-Nazir Ahmed, the director of disease control for Bangladesh, said the government was encouraged by the fact that the ICDDRB had already joined as a partner institution of APMEN.
He expressed hope that concerted efforts by the government and NGOs would help Bangladesh progress towards complete elimination of the disease. “By joining the APMEN, Bangladesh now has a great opportunity to learn from other affected countries in our region as we face similar challenges,” he said.
It was learnt that there has been a consistent decrease over the years in both malaria cases and deaths in Bangladesh.
The National Malaria Control Programme set a target to reduce malaria mortality and morbidity by 60% by 2015 from a 2008 baseline of 154 deaths per 84,690 cases. In 2013 malaria associated deaths dropped to 15 (90% reduction) and cases came down to 26,891 (68% reduction).
Bangladesh is on track to achieve its targets. Out of 13 endemic districts, four have shown low transmission rates of malaria and less than 5% malaria positivity rates among patients admitted with fever. Rates of malaria incidence have also dropped in the other endemic districts.
The government has adopted a strategic plan for 2015-2020 to eliminate malaria. The strategic plan provides the framework and technical guidance for the malaria control programme to implement measures that will help Bangladesh achieve zero malaria-related deaths and stop malaria transmission by 2020.
