Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Sogavare and his delegation met with the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) secretariat at a briefing meeting, hosted by APLMA last night (3rd October) in Singapore, to accelerate and reaffirm commitments to achieving malaria elimination by 2030. During the meeting, both parties discussed the current situation of malaria in the Asia Pacific and in Solomon Islands as well as efforts required to safeguard the lives of people in Solomon Islands and Melanesia.
Over the past 20 years Solomon Islands has made significant efforts to reduce malaria cases by half, with the help of mosquito-control efforts, as well as improved diagnostics and treatment. Despite major progress following reorganisations and fresh funding of its malaria programme, there has been a resurgence of the disease since 2015.
Today, the malaria burden nationally remains high, with 77,637 cases reported in 2020 alone. While deaths from malaria have fallen in recent years, with only 3 malaria deaths reported in 2020, the Annual Parasite Incidence (API) for Solomon Islands remains the highest in the Asia Pacific region.
