Malaria Consortium has conducted an active malaria case detection and treatment project in Pailin, Cambodia focused on eliminating the disease in the region. Cambodia has been classified by the World Health Organization as being in a control phase, some parts of the country are even in a pre-elimination phase. However, over the last two years there has been a rise in the number of malaria cases along the Cambodia-Thailand border that are not responding to treatment as quickly as usual. This supports the evidence that there is a new strain of the malaria parasite - Plasmodium falciparum - that is resistant to artemisinin, currently the most effective drug used in the treatment of malaria.
In order to identify what the response to this growing resistance could be, Malaria Consortium has piloted a surveillance project – using SMS technology to help prevent this resistant form of malaria from spreading further afield. As part of this project health teams aimed to identify and treat people who were suffering from malaria but were displaying no symptoms, and could potentially spread the disease without knowing.
This surveillance pilot project has been proven effective. The SMS approach is now a well established reporting tool in some pre-elimination districts of Cambodia and it will offer an approach to support the government’s efforts to rid Cambodia of malaria for good. You can read more about the project on our website.
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