Health workers are educating people on how to fight malaria. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The country recorded 141 cases of malaria in the first five months this year, an increase of 107.4 per cent over the same period in 2023, and no malaria epidemic occurred, according to the National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology (NIMPE).

The locality seeing the highest number of cases is Khánh Hòa Province with 94 cases, accounting for 66.7 per cent of the total, followed by Nghệ An Province with eight cases and Hà Tĩnh Province with seven.

According to NIMPE Director Hoàng Đình Cảnh, in 2023, there were 249 million cases of malaria globally in 85 countries, an increase of five million cases compared to 2022.

Africa is still the region with the most severe malaria situation, with an estimated 233 million cases infected with malaria, accounting for 94 per cent of malaria patients globally.

The Western Pacific region, including Việt Nam, has about 1.4 million cases, accounting for 0.56 per cent of the total number of malaria patients globally.

Across Việt Nam, over the past ten years, the number of cases and deaths due to malaria has gradually decreased (from 15,752 cases to 448 cases last year). Particularly, in the 2014-16 period it fell by half, and in the 2019-21 period the figure dropped by a third, Cảnh said.

Last year, Việt Nam recorded 448 cases of malaria.

Among the provinces with malaria patients, 13 out of 23 provinces have imported cases.

"This is a challenge for malaria prevention and elimination that needs to be considered in the future," Cảnh said.

To achieve the goal of eliminating malaria by 2030 according to Resolution No. 20 dated October 25, 2017 of the 12th Central Party Committee on strengthening the protection, care and improvement of people's health, by 2027 the whole country must have no more cases of domestic malaria parasites.

Meanwhile, there are still many provinces with persistent and regular complex malaria outbreaks that are difficult to tackle, including Lai Châu, Khánh Hòa, Gia Lai, Đắk Lắk and Đắk Nông, the director said.

According to national statistics, there are about seven million people living in malaria-endemic areas in 1,030 communes, mainly poor people and ethnic minorities living in mountainous, remote areas and Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) and border areas.

Part of the reason is limited public awareness, with people living in those areas not actively participating in malaria prevention work such as spraying residual chemicals, using mosquito nets and taking the correct/adequate dose of medicine when infected, especially ethnic minorities and seasonal workers in the fields.

In addition, the artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum malaria parasite, especially combined anti-malarial drug resistance, is at risk of spreading, he said.

Cảnh added that parasitic diseases have a high infection rate and prevalence in some areas, causing great harm to health, however parasitic diseases often have mild clinical symptoms, so it has not received much attention from people and the society.

Cảnh said that if economic conditions, food hygiene practices, personal hygiene and environmental hygiene are still poor, that will increase the risk of disease transmission and limit the ability of health authorities to prevent outbreaks.

A number of newly emerged disease-transmitting insects have a significant impact on people's health and lives such as three-winged ants, kissing bugs and black bean beetles. However, monitoring, detection and prevention work still faces many hurdles.

Authorities in some localities have not paid attention to directing and investing properly and promptly in the prevention of malaria, parasites and insects while officials performing the task of preventing malaria, parasites, and insects at the provincial level are always committed.

From 2021, the Ministry of Health has issued Decision No. 1745/QĐ-BYT on the plan to prevent common parasitic diseases in Việt Nam for the 2021-25 period; Decision No. 1744/QĐ-BYT guiding the monitoring and prevention of common parasitic diseases in Việt Nam; Decision No. 5003/QĐ-BYT on the plan for epidemiological zoning of common parasitic diseases in Việt Nam for the 2021-25 period.

However, these activities are being implemented very slowly, with only 33 out of 63 provinces and cities carrying out the phased plans of parasitic disease prevention for the 2021-25 period.

At the end of 2023, only 7 per cent of districts have conducted epidemiological zoning activities for parasitic diseases, he added. — VNS