PHNOM PENH (XINHUA) – Cambodia reported 3,504 cases of malaria in 2021, a 57 per cent drop from 8,222 in 2020, a health official said yesterday.
“Among the reported cases, there have been no any deaths,” director of the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control Huy Rekol told Xinhua.
He said Cambodia has not had any malaria deaths since 2018, which led to the country being considered a successful country in eliminating malaria deaths three years earlier than its target.
Rekol attributed the decline in malaria cases to people’s better awareness, adequate equipment such as malaria testing devices, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and anti-malarial drugs.
Malaria diagnostic tests and treatment are very effective in Cambodia, he said, adding that Artesunate-Mefloquine, or ASMQ, is 100 per cent safe and efficacious against malaria.
“We hope that Cambodia will be able to eliminate malaria cases by 2025, as year after year, the number of malaria cases has dropped remarkably,” he said.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease, which is often found in rainy seasons and mostly appears in forest and mountainous provinces.
Rekol said to avoid being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes, people living in malaria risk areas should sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets all the time.
