Cambodia sees sharp drop in malaria cases in over a decade: PM

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia has seen a sharp drop in malaria cases in the last 11 years, recording no deaths from the disease since 2018, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday.

In a message to mark National Malaria Day, Hun Sen said the Southeast Asian country reported 4,041 cases in 2022, a huge decrease from more than 110,000 cases with over 500 deaths a year before 2011, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Since 2018 to date, there have been no deaths from malaria," he said.

"The government is committed to totally eradicating malaria in the country by 2025."

Huy Rekol, director of the National Centrefor Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, attributed the sharp drop in malaria cases to people's better surveillance response, awareness, adequate equipment such as malaria testing devices, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and anti-malarial drugs.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease, which is often found in rainy seasons and mostly happens in forest and mountainous provinces.