APS : MONDAY 15 APRIL 2019
ALGIERS- Algeria will obtain the certification of the World Health Organization for malaria elimination, said Monday Dr. Djamel Fourar, health prevention and promotion director at the Ministry of Health,
Population and Hospital Reform.
Algeria, which has committed vis-à-vis WHO to making every effort to eliminate malaria, through the national programme elaborated in this regard by the State, “will soon obtain WHO certification for the elimination of malaria,” said Fourar.
In this respect, he broached the visit of an expert group (not falling under WHO) which visited this week Adrar, Ouargla and Tamanrasset to enquire about the epidemiological situation, pointing out that this group elaborated a report to WHO which, in its turn, transmitted it to another independent group of experts in Geneva (Switzerland) “to decide on the file, in full transparency, in order to grant Algeria the document certifying the definitive elimination of malaria.”
Algeria hasn’t recorded any case of malaria since 2014.
The cases that have been recorded this year are “cases imported by foreigners coming from sub-Saharan regions or persons who visited regions where this disease spreads rapidly and who didn’t respect the medical instructions once they return from their missions,” according to the ministry.
It is the third certification that WHO will grant to Algeria, after that obtained in 2016 after the elimination of polio, noting that no case has been recorded since 1996.
The second certification is that of the elimination of neonatal tetanus.
