Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire congratulates the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro for being declared Malaria-free. Photo from the Municipality of Puerto Galera’s Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — The entire province of Oriental Mindoro is now malaria-free, the Department of Health (DOH) announced Friday after the review and recommendation of the National Malaria Elimination and Control Technical Working Group.
The province also completed and satisfied the requirements stated in the Department Circular No. 2021-0249, which provides for the guidelines declaring areas as malaria-free.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire lauded the province for its milestone while reminding the health workers not to keep their guards down.
“We wish to congratulate all of you for this milestone, but our work does not end here,” Vergeire said in a speech during the inauguration of Puerto Galera rural health unit building in Oriental Mindoro on Thursday.
“The gains achieved by the province must be maintained to prevent re-establishment of transmission through several strategies such as maintained functionality of the provincial elimination hub to undertake malaria surveillance and response, health promotion, malaria case management including orientation of front-line providers and vector control, and other on-the-ground measures that need to be sustained,” she added.
Malaria is a parasitic infection caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito.
The DOH said the country’s malaria incidence declined by 87 percent, from 48,569 in 2003, to 6,210 cases in 2020.
Deaths due to malaria have also declined by 98 percent, from 162 deaths in 2003, to only three deaths in 2020, the health department also said.
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