In brief
The World Health Organization hails this achievement while urging continued vigilance for sustainability.
In a remarkable public health achievement, Egypt has been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO), marking a significant milestone in the country's 100-year campaign against the disease. WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, commended the historic nature of this certification, stating, “Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilization itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history.”The certification is awarded when a country demonstrates that the transmission of malaria has been interrupted for at least three consecutive years. Malaria continues to claim the lives of approximately 600,000 individuals annually, predominantly in African regions. WHO officials acknowledged the hard work of "the Egyptian government and people" in their fight to eradicate a disease that has endured since ancient times. With Egypt being the third nation in the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region, after the UAE and Morocco, to achieve this status, the global count of countries claiming malaria-free status has reached 44.Despite this achievement, WHO warned that it represents merely "the beginning of a new phase," emphasizing that ongoing vigilance is crucial for maintaining the country's malaria-free status. WHO outlines that to obtain certification, a nation must also prove its capability to prevent a resurgence of malaria.Efforts to control malaria in Egypt can be traced back to the 1920s, particularly through measures aimed at minimizing human contact with mosquitoes, including prohibiting rice cultivation and certain agricultural practices near residential areas. Today, while there are vaccines available in some regions, the most reliable preventive strategies continue to focus on rigorous monitoring of the disease and avoidance of mosquito bites.
