Philippines: Supporting country- and community-led efforts to finish malaria – Stories

September 19, 2024

The end of malaria is in sight within the Philippines.

In 2002, the country recorded 38,347 cases of malaria and 122 deaths. Currently, 72 of the 82 provinces of the Philippines are malaria-free, with nine provinces having no cases amongst indigenous peoples and just one province having lively transmission, recording 6,189 cases in 2023.

The Global Fund is working with the federal government, private sector partners, including the Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc., and civil society organizations to combat malaria in Palawan, the last province where the disease stays a threat—specializing in early testing and treatment, distributing insecticide-treated bed nets, and implementing robust community mobilization campaigns to boost awareness of the disease. Global Fund grants also support community medical examiners and microscopists who travel to distant areas to check people for malaria, distribute bed nets, and discuss prevention and treatment with nomadic and indigenous groups.

Two a long time of partnership and investment have brought the Philippines to the brink of elimination – but drought and storms brought on by climate change are threatening the country’s vision to finish malaria by 2030. Typhoons are battering the coast with increasing force annually, destroying homes and health infrastructure and creating pools of stagnant water where disease-carrying mosquitoes thrive. In the mountains and forests, the dearth of rain has forced some indigenous people to relocate, making it harder to succeed in them with medicine and basic health services.

With support from the Global Fund, the Philippine government is investing in health systems that may withstand and reply to extreme weather events – incorporating malaria prevention and testing into primary health care services in communities and constructing surveillance networks that feed data from communities into national health information systems so officials can address malaria outbreaks as they emerge.

With consistent, coordinated motion to combat climate change, the Philippines will change into a job model within the fight against malaria – and end the disease on its territory once and for all.