WHO meeting on progress achieved with malaria elimination in the WHO European Region (Turkmenistan, November 2007)

2008 The rationale for organizing this meeting was to follow up on the implementation of the Tashkent Declaration “The Move from Malaria Control to Elimination”, and to report on achievements and experiences related to malaria elimination accumulated over the past two years. Particular attention was paid to promoting cross-border cooperation among countries and between Regions (the European and Eastern Mediterranean Regions) and to stimulating the flow of additional resources for malaria elimination.

Participants greatly appreciated the efforts made by countries themselves, WHO and partners towards malaria elimination. The reduction in the reported number of malaria cases by almost a fifteen–fold over the past eight years (1999–2006) is the most visible achievement of the regional malaria programme. Bearing in mind the result achieved by 2007, it can be assumed that all countries affected by autochthonous malaria will be able to proceed with malaria elimination as planned, and by 2010 Armenia, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan will ultimately interrupt the transmission of P. vivax and P. falciparum malaria, respectively.

Participants reaffirmed their commitments to the Tashkent Declaration and to the declared goals and targets of the new regional strategy on malaria, and emphasized the need to ensure that the countries are fully supported in their malaria elimination efforts.