PAHO and CAF to boost malaria efforts in Amazon border areas

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) have recently formalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This agreement aims to enhance initiatives focused on the elimination of malaria within the Amazon border regions of American nations, specifically through the mutual sharing of national experiences. Sergio Díaz-Granados, Executive President of CAF, emphasized that this collaboration is a critical measure in addressing health disparities affecting vulnerable Amazonian border communities in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Statistical data from 2023 indicate that 31% of all malaria cases and 41% of malaria-related fatalities occurred within indigenous populations residing in the Amazon. The incidence of malaria in the Americas is primarily attributable to countries in South America with elevated rates of infection, where indigenous communities and mobile populations are disproportionately affected. In 2023, regional countries reported over 505,000 cases of malaria, with approximately 70% of these cases identified within the Amazon Basin territories shared by eight countries. The cooperative efforts between the two organizations will concentrate on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of malaria. This will be achieved through the training of community health workers and primary health care personnel in the application of rapid diagnostic tests, the expansion of local detection, diagnostic, and response networks, community involvement, and the exchange of epidemiological data between countries in border areas.