WHO expected to certify Azerbaijan as "malaria-free"

Since 2013, there have been no local cases of malaria infection in Azerbaijan, Health Minister Teymur Musayev said at a meeting with the delegation of the Independent Evaluation Mission, which included members of the Technical Advisory Group on Malaria Elimination and Certification of the World Health Organization (WHO), Report informs.

The minister emphasized that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with WHO. According to him, Azerbaijan has been closely cooperating with the health organization since 1992, and this cooperation is developing every year.

In his speech, the minister drew attention to the work carried out in preventing and eliminating malaria outbreaks in Azerbaijan.

“For many years, large-scale measures have been implemented in Azerbaijan to prevent malaria outbreaks,” the minister said.

Keith Carter, a member of the WHO Evaluation Mission, noted Azerbaijan's invaluable contribution to the elimination of malaria in the region and the preservation of the status of a malaria-free country. He said that in September 2021, the Azerbaijani Health Ministry sent an official request to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to start the certification process for malaria eradication in Azerbaijan. As part of this process, the WHO certification mission visited Azerbaijan from May 16 to 20, 2022. Besides, in June 2022, the Ministry of Health submitted the "National Report on the fight against malaria in the Republic of Azerbaijan" to the WHO Global Malaria Control Program along with the required package of documents.

As a result of the two-week work of the Evaluation Mission with separate components of the malaria control system and based on the results of the work done in the country, WHO is expected to certify Azerbaijan as a "malaria-free" country.

The WHO mission’s business trip to Azerbaijan started on October 3 and will last until October 14.