Malaria Information
What is malaria?
Malaria in the Asia-Pacific
Controlling malaria in the Asia-Pacific
Establishing a malaria management programme and/or a malaria control programme
Malaria and Industry
Malaria FAQ
Malaria in the Asia-Pacific
Here we give an overview of malaria in the Asia-Pacific, discussing characteristics of its transmission and control in the region. To go straight to summaries of basic characteristics by country you can click here.
- Recommended control interventions by country: recommended prevention, treatment and chemoprophylaxis approaches
- Malaria epidemiological context by country: malaria species, main vector species, insecticide and drug resistance status
- Appropriate chemoprophylaxis drugs by country
Controlling Malaria in the Asia-Pacific
Choosing appropriate control approaches requires detailed knowledge of the local epidemiology of the disease. This includes socio-economic conditions, vector species and behaviour, as well as other contextual issues ranging from accessibility of communities to household and individual behaviours linked to day to day life and specific practices by those in specific jobs. The ‘Establishing a Malaria Control Programme’ section below goes into more detail in how to conduct a situation analysis to inform choice of appropriate options.
Main approaches to controlling malaria are shown in the graphic and described below.
Simple depiction of the different options for reducing malaria morbidity and mortality along the disease progression – i.e. primary, secondary, tertiary interventions.
Prevention of malaria
Selection of an appropriate set of malaria prevention activities must be based on detailed understanding of the disease, and in particular an understanding of both the risk populations and the malaria vectors in the target area. It is important to know which species of mosquitoes are driving transmission and to understand their behaviour. This guides design of appropriate prevention approaches. Comprehensive prevention should include both large-scale interventions to reduce the size and age of the vector population (vector control) as well as measures to provide personal protection for individuals and communities at risk.
Establishing a malaria management programme and/or a malaria control programme
A malaria control programme will encompass the activities that address prevention, diagnosis, treatment and surveillance of malaria in a particular area or group of people.
A malaria management programme would be designed by a company to define how malaria will be addressed by the company more broadly. This may include malaria control programmes in certain areas as well as approaches to inform and manage risks of malaria in all staff including frequent travellers.
This section gives guidance on the specific steps that could be taken to design a sound malaria programme and also includes a range of additional information which will be useful to managers or plannners establishing a programme.
Other aspects of programme planning and management
Aside from following the basic steps to designing a malaria management or control programme. Managers and planners may well need guidance in these other aspects of programme planning and management: