WHO Stating the Absolute Obvious

From the WHO’s “Malaria Elimination: A Field Manual for Low and Moderate Endemic Countries“:

“Malaria transmission is particularly difficult to interrupt in areas with efficient mosquito vectors, a long or year-round transmission season, poor state of overall development, marginalized populations and weak health systems with inadequate coverage of health services, as well as in areas with civil unrest, illegal cross-border movement, or areas that border high-burden neighboring countries and experience intense cross-border population movement. Each of these factors will reduce the feasibility of malaria elimination”

Shouldn’t this be completely obvious? They are describing every place where malaria is, outside a few exceptional cases at this point. The WHO is stating clearly that malaria elimination in Sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely impossible.

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About Pete Larson

Researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Lecturer in the University of Michigan School of Public Health and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I do epidemiology, public health, GIS, health disparities and environmental justice. I also do music and weird stuff.

2 responses to “WHO Stating the Absolute Obvious”

  1. Andrew says :

    A prerequisite for entering elimination phase:”…the elimination database has been set up, including geographic information systems-based data on foci, cases, vectors, parasite isolates and interventions.”

  2. Pete Larson says :

    It’s a pretty tall order. I’m not sure how many of the countries on the elimination list have done (or have the resources to do) everything as specified.

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