Progress Made in Elimination Efforts Brings Caribbean Closer to Beating Malaria

April 25th is World Malaria DayExternal
Progress
The island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is the last remaining island in the Caribbean with malaria and is now poised to beat this infectious disease threat. Since committing to malaria elimination in 2009, Haiti and its partners have made real progress towards this goal. The number of new malaria cases has declined by 50% to around 20,000 cases each year across Hispaniola, and the number of cases in the Dominican Republic this past year was the lowest in history. The National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) in Haiti, with support from CDC, has scaled up use of rapid diagnostic tests, established an insectary that strengthened the country’s capacity for controlling mosquitoes and other insects that spread disease, and established a system to monitor for drug resistance to chloroquine, which is the primary treatment for malaria in Haiti. Innovative strategies are now being employed to help Hispaniola get to zero cases of malaria and provide critical information for other countries as they approach elimination.
A commitment to elimination
In 2015, an alliance of governmental, academic, and non-governmental partners led by CDC, called Malaria ZeroExternal
These approaches will help NMCP and partners find all the areas where malaria continues to occur. This is particularly important in places like Haiti that are close to malaria elimination. In such places, malaria transmission becomes localized in specific, at-risk populations–“malaria hotspots.” In all areas with malaria, standard control measures need to be put in place—monitoring, diagnosis, treatment, and mosquito control and the alliance will support these critical activities. But in the hot spots, getting to zero cases may require additional and more aggressive community-based approaches. For example, treatment medicines could be provided to the whole population in a hot spot—a strategy called “targeted mass drug administration”. Findings from surveys will guide decisions about which interventions to prioritize where, information that is particularly needed in settings like Haiti where resources are limited.
Elimination of malaria from Haiti and the Dominican Republic will have far-reaching benefits in Hispaniola, and will serve to improve malaria elimination efforts beyond the Caribbean, moving the world one step closer to beating malaria once and for all.