The government has allocated Rs. 30 million this year to prevent Malaria from affecting the country again, Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said.
Sri Lanka was certified as a Malaria-free country by the World Health Organization (WHO) in September, last year.
Addressing a press conference held at the Government Information Department in Colombo yesterday, he said usually the government allocates Rs. 10 million for Malaria control every year. However, the government allocated over Rs. 83 million for Malaria as recurrent expenditure. The WHO has formulated a 15-year plan from 2015 to 2030 to eliminate Malaria.
According to Minister Dr. Senaratne, the last death due to Indigenous Malaria reported from Sri Lanka was in 2007. The last Malaria case due to Indigenous Malaria reported from Sri Lanka was in 2012. A Malaria patient was detected from Colombo South Teaching Hospital (Kalubowila) recently, and he was a foreigner. In 2015, a total of 429,000 Malaria patients died in the world.
Malaria is prevalent in 91 other countries. Malaria can be imported to Sri Lanka again from one or more of these countries through tourists, business travelers, members of armed forces sent abroad as peace keepers, refugees who arrive in Sri Lanka from some other countries etc. It is important to obtain the vaccination against Malaria before leaving for affected countries, he added.