Egypt has been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO), with the UN public health agency hailing the achievement as “truly historic”.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilization itself, but the disease that plagued the pharaohs now belongs to Egyptian history.”
Egyptian authorities have launched the first effort to eradicate a deadly mosquito-borne disease in nearly 100 years.
Certification is granted when a country proves that the electricity transmission chain has been disrupted for at least the past three consecutive years. Malaria kills at least 600,000 people each year, almost all of them in Africa.
In a statement on Sunday, the WHO praised the efforts of the “Egyptian government and people” to “end a disease that has existed in the country since ancient times.”
According to the report, Egypt became the third country to be recognized in the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region, following the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.
Around the world, 44 countries and one region have reached this milestone.
But the WHO said the certification was only “the beginning of a new phase” and called for vigilance in Egypt to remain malaria-free.
To obtain WHO certification, countries must demonstrate their ability to prevent re-establishment of infection.
According to the United Nations public health agency, the first efforts to limit human-mosquito contact in Egypt began in the 1920s, when growing rice and other crops near homes was banned.
Malaria is caused by a complex parasite that is spread through mosquito bites.
Although a vaccine is now in use in some areas, the best way to prevent malaria is to monitor yourself for the disease and avoid mosquito bites.
