Myanmar groups work together to fight deadly malaria

06 August 2015
Myanmar groups work together to fight deadly malaria
Photo: EPA

Senior Myanmar government and military officials have held unprecedented discussions with representatives of the main opposition party and ethnic minorities in Washington on fighting Malaria the South China Morning Post reported on 5 August.
The 3 August meeting, also attended by the US government and military, scientific researchers and international foundations, comes amid growing concern over the spread of drug-resistant cases of the mosquito-borne disease in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries.
If resistance gains a foothold and spreads further, it threatens the effectiveness of the primary medicine used to combat malaria, artemisinin. Therapies using artemisinin have helped cut global malaria deaths by a quarter in the past decade. The disease still kills about 600,000 annually.
Myaing Myaing Nyunt from the University of Maryland Institute for Global Health, which helped organise the meeting at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said it was held in Washington to provide a neutral venue. She said the participants agreed to work together regardless of the political situation in Myanmar, where landmark elections will be held November 8.
Deputy health minister, Thein Thein Htay, said malaria cases in Myanmar have decreased from more than 300,000 in 2013 to about 250,000 in 2014 but the nation’s porous borders leave it vulnerable. She said studies were still ongoing to determine how far drug-resistance has spread.
Myanmar suffers the most malaria deaths in the Mekong region. Among hardest-hit areas are those inhabited by ethnic minorities that have long fought central government control, and where many remain displaced by conflict and with little access to public health care.