WHO certifies Egypt as malaria-free; calls it a “historic achievement” that ends an ancient scourge

In this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on November 23, 2015, an Anopheles stephensi mosquito receives a blood meal from a human host via its pointed proboscis. The species is a known malaria vector and occurs from Egypt to China. File | Photo credit: REUTERS

Egypt was certified malaria-free on Sunday, October 20, 2024. The World Health Organization called this success “truly historic” and the culmination of nearly a century of work to eradicate the disease.

“Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilization itself, but the disease that plagued the pharaohs is now part of its history, not its future,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

“This certification of Egypt as malaria-free is truly historic and a testament to the commitment of the Egyptian people and government to rid themselves of this ancient scourge.”

Worldwide, 44 countries and one territory have now been certified as malaria-free.

Certification is granted by the WHO when a country has demonstrated that the chain of domestic malaria transmission by the Anopheles mosquito has been broken nationwide for at least three consecutive years. A country must also demonstrate the ability to prevent transmission from resuming.

According to the WHO, more than 600,000 people die from malaria every year, 95 percent of them in Africa. In 2022, there were 249 million recorded cases of malaria worldwide.

Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes and occurs primarily in tropical countries. The infection is caused by a parasite.

“Today’s receipt of the malaria elimination certificate is not the end of the journey, but the beginning of a new phase,” said Egypt’s Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar. “We must now work tirelessly and vigilantly to maintain our success by maintaining the highest standards of monitoring, diagnosis and treatment.”

The WHO said the first efforts to reduce contact between humans and mosquitoes in Egypt began in the 1920s, when the cultivation of rice and agricultural crops near homes was banned. By 1942, the number of cases in Egypt had risen to over three million due to population displacement during World War II.

The Aswan Dam, built in the 1960s, poses new malaria risks as stagnant water provides breeding grounds for mosquitoes. But by 2001, Egypt had malaria “firmly under control,” the WHO said.

Nigeria accounts for more than a quarter of all malaria deaths annually, ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Mozambique.