Between the years 2000 to 2015 Guyana has seen a whopping decline in the number of malaria cases as was revealed by US Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Halloway during the launch of a new malaria project on Thursday at the Cara Lodge.
According to the World Malaria report of 2017, some 445,000 deaths were recorded in 2016 while 446,000 were recorded in 2015 globally.
The report says that the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region accounted for 91 per cent of all malaria deaths in 2016 followed by the WHO South-East Asia Region which recorded six per cent in deaths.
Halloway on Thursday took the opportunity to remind locals that the US Embassy is committed to assisting Guyanese in fighting malaria.
Around the globe more countries are beginning to move towards the elimination of the dreaded mosquito-borne disease.
In fact some 44 countries were reported with fewer cases than 10,000 malaria infected persons in 2016, the report detailed.
Moreover Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka were certified by WHO as malaria free in 2016.
In 2016, WHO identified 21 countries with the potential to eliminate malaria by the year 2020.
WHO is working with the governments in these countries – known as “E-2020 countries” – to support their elimination acceleration goals.
On Tuesday Guyana joined the rest of the world in observing World Malaria Day.
This year, the event was held under the theme ‘Ready to beat malaria’.
