Posted: Monday, November 7, 2016. 4:27 p.m. CST.
By BBN Staff: The Ministry of Health in a release today announced that as part of the regional initiative to eliminate Malaria by the year 2020, the Ministry has just completed another round of external evaluation by the Global Fund and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and has surpassed its targets for 2015/2016.
This year’s success comes on the heels of Malaria Day in the Americas, which is observed yearly by countries in the region on November 6th.’
This year’s theme is “End Malaria for Good”.
Belize is on track to meet its regional commitment as to date the Ministry has achieved a 99 percent reduction in cases between the period from 2000 to 2015.
Last year, there were nine locally-acquired cases reported from six villages mainly in the Corozal, Orange Walk and Stann Creek districts. Most of the country including the Belize, Cayo and Toledo districts have met requirements to be declared Malaria free. This is a vast difference from the mid-90’s when Malaria peaked at over 10,000 cases.
The Ministry expressed gratitude to the network of voluntary collaborators and community health workers on the ground in communities who have worked tirelessly in surveillance, treatment and education of citizens.
The release states that the ministry continues to work along with local and international partners to pursue commitment to global targets including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the implementation of the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria (GTS) which envisions a malaria-free world by 2030.
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