KABUL - The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) in Afghanistan today called for making the malaria endemic country free from it, while reiffirming its commitment to support the country in its fight against the fatal mosquito-borne disease.

In his message delivered at a ceremony organized to mark the World Malaria Day in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Dr. Sayed Karam Shah of WHO, said the UN agency would “re-affirm its commitment to help Afghanistan in fighting against malaria.”

The World Malaria Day, which falls on 25 April, was instituted by WHO Member States during the World Health Assembly in 2007. It is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and control, according to WHO. The multi-year theme for this Day, starting this year, is ‘Invest in the future. Defeat malaria.’

The WHO’s Global Malaria Programme’s new initiative called ‘T3: Test, Treat, Track’ supports malarial-endemic countries, including Afghanistan, in their efforts to achieve universal coverage with diagnostic testing and antimalarial treatment, as well as strengthening their malaria surveillance system.

A WHO report published in 2011 reported 391,365 cases of malaria in Afghanistan, a staggering 98 per cent decrease from 2002.

However, speaking in the Kabul event, Dr. Abdul Basir Sarwar, Afghanistan's Deputy Minister for Public Health, said that malaria was a major public health concern in Afghanistan with about 22.6 million of the population living in endemic areas with threat of being infected with the deadly disease.

The UN health agency has been a partner of the Government of Afghanistan in its malaria eradication programme since early 2000s by providing technical and operational support.

“WHO is committed to support the National Malaria and Leishmaniasis Control Programme in moving from single interventions to a systematic and country-based programme,” said Dr. Shah.

WHO said an estimated 80 per cent of the total number of malaria cases concentrate in just 17 countries worldwide. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), India and Nigeria together account for more almost 40 per cent of the global total of estimated malaria cases. Malaria kills an estimated 660,000 people worldwide, mainly children under five years of age in Sub-Saharan Africa.