More effort needed in fighting malaria along Thai-Cambodia border

Oct 1, 2010, 10:58 GMT

Bangkok - Efforts to combat a more resistant strain of malaria are showing results on the Thai-Cambodia border, but more needs to be done, a Thai official said Friday.

Efforts to combat malaria intensified two years ago after mosquitoes along the Thai-Cambodia border were discovered to be more resistant to the artemisinin drugs treatment.

That discovery worried experts since artemisinin remains the main combination therapy to combat malaria, and a resistant strain could have significant public health consequences.

The situation is worst parts of south-eastern Thailand's Chantaburi and Trat provinces and Cambodia's Pailin province.

'There the mosquitoes are more resistant and can spread. We want to eliminate them before they spread,' said Saowanit Vijaykadga, of the Bureau of Vector Borne Disease.

Cambodia is making progress battling the disease. As of mid-September, there were only two cases of plasmodium falciparium, one of the most deadly forms of malaria, among 5,686 people screened in 16 villages in Pailin, according to the bureau website.

In the adjacent Soi Dao and Pong Nam Ron districts of Chantaburi province, there was a similar trend, with incidence dropping from 16 to seven from 2008 to 2009.

In an effort to wipe out mosquito-borne diseases, the World Health Organization has developed a cross-border containment effort with the Thai and Cambodian governments.

This 22.5-million-dollar project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, uses a combination of prevention and treatment methods.

Saowanit said those include newer insecticides, mosquito nets for people who spend time in the jungles, and better application of treatment for those who get malaria.

But more collective regional efforts are needed to make a difference in addressing the malaria problem on the border, the WHO said in a press release Thursday.

Dr Charles Delacollette, co-ordinator of the WHO's Mekong Malaria Programme, said the members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) need to 'be more aggressive' in their anti-malaria efforts.

Delacollette said more political will from ASEAN governments was needed, as was wider coverage of the campaign areas to increase awareness among people at risk.

'As a body for regional socio-economic growth, it is important for ASEAN to show strong commitment,' he said.