Guyana in “red zone” in Commonwealth Malaria Report 2022

The recently released Commonwealth Malaria Report for 2022 has placed Guyana in the red category in its assessment, meaning that the country is not on track to achieve the targets set out for 2023 in incidence and mortality rates.
In Guyana, 22,159 cases of malaria were detected in 2020. The incidence rate for the year was 28.17, significantly over the required incidence rate to be on track for the 2023 commonwealth target.
However, 786,559 persons in the population were in the at-risk category.
Being in the “red zone” is an indication that the country has achieved less than 75 per cent of the progress required to be on track in 2020. In order to be on track, there has to be a record of a reduction of malaria cases to a level equal to, or greater than, the linear projection required to reach halving by 2023.
In 2018, Commonwealth leaders set the mission of halving malaria by 2023. Leaders were motivated to make this commitment because of the grave challenge this preventable and treatable disease poses to the health security of over two billion citizens of the Commonwealth. It is a fact now well understood that malaria disproportionately burdens the Commonwealth: despite having only a third of the global population, the Commonwealth accounts for more than half of all the malaria cases and deaths recorded each year.
A fifth of Commonwealth malaria-endemic countries was on track to halve both malaria case incidence and mortality rates by 2023. These countries were Bangladesh, Belize, India, Malaysia, and Pakistan.
“Case incidence rates decreased across the majority of Commonwealth countries. While progress remains strong in some parts of the Commonwealth, it has been slow in others, and several countries saw high increases in case incidence levels, partly as a result of the impact of the pandemic,” the report highlighted.
Nine out of ten Commonwealth citizens live in a malaria-endemic country. The Commonwealth’s malaria commitment was a historic decision to recognise that this family of nations has a duty to act on a disease that can be eradicated with the necessary political will. Moreover, as the world has learned so keenly in the last two years, the health of our whole community is inextricably interlinked. When a community health worker is equipped to detect, diagnose, and treat a fever case in one country, it has a positive impact on the health of citizens in others.
The new data available for 2020 shows a marked change in progress of countries fighting malaria. The full impact of COVID-19 on malaria programmes and patient treatment-seeking behaviour has become evident. While reasons for optimism remain – particularly in the South Asia region – and efforts to maintain malaria programming in the face of COVID-19 must be applauded, it is clear that many countries are now falling behind in the race to halve malaria by 2023.
Health Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Janneth Mghamba outlined that supporting the malaria elimination agenda has been of increasing priority in recent high-level Commonwealth ministerial meetings. In 2017, Commonwealth Health Ministers committed to steps to accelerate the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC) and ensure vulnerable groups are not left behind, in relation to access to health and socioeconomic development.
“Following the COVID-19 pandemic declaration in 2020, new focus and attention was brought to the risk of health gains being halted. Responding to this, Commonwealth Health Ministers recognised a need to sustain malaria progress, alongside other health gains from longstanding public health investments. They also welcomed the development of monitoring tools by the secretariat to guide progress towards targets,” Dr Mghamba penned in the report.
In 2021, the Commonwealth Health Ministers again renewed their malaria commitment and welcomed the launching of the Commonwealth Malaria Tracker, a tool aiming to help countries monitor progress towards their target of halving malaria. Ministers also welcomed the formation of a Commonwealth COVID-19 Open-Ended Informal Technical Working Group on Sustaining Health Gains, a platform for countries to share expertise and best practices and assist them in reaching the elimination targets.