WHO meeting on cross-border collaboration on malaria elimination (Turkey, September 2008)

The rationale for organizing this meeting was to promote cross-border cooperation, and to share experiences on malaria elimination among countries and between Regions (the WHO European and Eastern Mediterranean Regions).

Since 2008, all malaria-affected countries of the European Region have moved to the elimination phase and their national strategies on malaria have been revised to reflect the new elimination realities. Turkmenistan and Armenia have had zero locally acquired malaria cases for three consecutive years (2006-2008), and they can officially request WHO to certify their malaria-free status.

Participants reaffirmed their commitments to the Tashkent and Kabul Declarations, and stressed the importance of the Tallinn Charter 2008, “Health Systems for Health and Wealth,” for actions against malaria with the goal of eliminating malaria in the European Region by 2015. The need to ensure that malaria-affected countries are fully supported by WHO and its partners in their efforts
to eliminate malaria was emphasized. Particular emphasis should be given to situations where a risk of spread of malaria across shared borders exists.