Malaria

Fact sheet

Key facts

• Malaria morbidity in Viet Nam has decreased steadily from 2.8 per 1,000 population in the year 1991 to 0.87 in 2001 and to just 0.18 in 2011.
• There were 14 deaths from malaria in 2011 compared with 4,646 in 1991 and 91 in 2001.
• In 2011 Viet Nam had an estimated population of 88.2 million with about 15.5 million people living in malaria endemic areas (18% of the population).
• Almost all cases and deaths occur in the Central Highlands region.
• The prevalence of artemisinin resistance is increasing in Viet Nam.
• Currently the National Malaria Control Programme has heen implementing the National Strategy for malaria control and elimination for the period 2011-2020.
• The main activities are: insecticide procurement for spraying and net treatment, antimalarials, surveillance, supplies and training.
• A national containment plan for artemisinin resistance has been developed with the support of WHO and is in line with the guiding principles set out in the Global Plan for Artemisinin Resistance Containment (GPARC) in early 2011. However, to date it has only received very low-level funding from the Government.
• The Ministry of Health (MoH) has banned the use of artesunate monotherapy for the treatment of malaria, and restricted the manufacture of artesunate monotherapy, a key factor in promoting resistance.

The situation

• In 2011, 45,588 cases of malaria were reported, and 16,612 of these were parasitologically confirmed.
• Of these confirmed cases, 61% were caused by Plasmodium falciparum. 14 malaria related deaths were reported in hospital patients.
• National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) statistics indicate that between 2000 and 2010 malaria incidence and malaria-related deaths fell by 81% and 86%, respectively.
• Resistance to antimalarials has long been a problem in Viet Nam. Resistance to artemisinin was first confirmed in Binh Phuoc Province in the Central Highlands in 2010.
• A containment plan was quickly developed but as yet has received only very low-level funding from the domestic budget.
• Malaria remains an important public health issue and the NMCP receives strong political support, with malaria recently reaffirmed by the MoH as one of the country’s five priority communicable diseases.
• Until now, vector control and personal protection from vectors has been based on conventional insecticide-treated bednets. The policy has now been updated with the adoption of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets (LLINs) as the national standard, though this change has yet to be funded.
• Supplementary single LLINs or hammocks and hammock-nets treated with long-lasting insecticides are provided to mobile populations and forest-goers as appropriate.
• Indoor residual spraying (IRS) is carried out both as a routine preventive measure in some areas and also in response to outbreaks. Outbreak response capability is considered adequate.

WHO's response

• WHO's work includes:
• Providing support to determine the risk factors related to antimalarial drug resistance among residents and non-residents of Binh Phuoc province.
• Supporting the development of the national malaria monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan;
• Support to maintain sentinel sites for therapeutic efficacy study to follow up artemisinin resistance situation;
• Providing technical and funding support for implementation of containment strategy for artemisinin resistance;
• Support for monitoring drug resistance.