Malaria control remains a big challenge in Vietnam as there are nearly 20 million people living in areas at risk of malaria, equal to 22.5% of the national population, said Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Preventive Health Department under the Ministry of Health. Mr. Binh made the statement at a ceremony to launch World Malaria Day [April 25] in the central and Central Highlands regions, which are deemed the country’s hotspots for the disease. Although nearly 44,000 people contracted malaria last year, an on-year fall of 4%, the number of infections remained high, he added. The fatality rate of malaria in 2012 fell by 43% on year to eight cases, seven of which were recorded in the central provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan, he added. The high dead cases in these regions are attributed to the poor primary healthcare system, lack of public awareness about malaria prevention and cross-border exchanges in hyper-endemic areas seasonal movements. According to Tran Cong Dai, an expert of the World Health Organization in Vietnam, a malaria epidemic is forecast to recur and spread in many provinces and cities this year, and thus, the government should invest more in malaria control to completely eliminate the disease in the future. (vov.vn April 24)
