In Brief
- The Plan: On Friday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) launched its Action Plan for Malaria Elimination in the Americas 2026–2030, covering Latin America and the Caribbean.
- The Targets: The initiative aims to cut overall malaria incidence by 50 per cent by 2030 (compared with 2024 levels) and reduce cases caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite by 70 per cent.
- The Strategy: To break the stagnation of roughly half a million cases per year, PAHO is focusing on bringing rapid diagnostic tests, treatment, and digital tools directly to remote, Indigenous, and mining communities where transmission is heavily concentrated.
- Regional Progress: While regional cases fell by only 4.6 per cent between 2015 and 2025, malaria deaths dropped by nearly 20 per cent over the same period, and five countries—including Belize and Suriname—have been certified malaria-free since 2018.
BRASILIA, Brazil (CMC) – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Friday presented a new plan to accelerate malaria elimination in the Americas, including the Caribbean.
The strategy proposes strengthening and transforming the regional response over the next four years by bringing diagnosis and treatment closer to communities where transmission persists, while incorporating new tools and approaches to interrupt the spread of the disease.
The document responds to a stagnation in regional malaria cases—which have hovered at around half a million per year—and the persistent barriers to timely diagnosis and treatment, particularly in Indigenous communities, mining areas, and hard-to-reach locations.
PAHO warned that without a faster, more targeted response, transmission could persist and vital opportunities to advance towards elimination could be lost.
The Action Plan for Malaria Elimination in the Americas 2026–2030 sets a target of reducing malaria incidence by 50 per cent by 2030 compared with 2024, when approximately 537,000 cases were reported.
It also aims to reduce the incidence of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum—one of the parasites responsible for malaria in the region—by 70 per cent, and to advance the elimination of the disease across countries and subnational territories.
At the heart of the new approach is bringing diagnosis and treatment closer to the people who need it most. PAHO said the plan proposes expanding the use of rapid diagnostic tests and strengthening community-based networks for diagnosis and treatment under the supervision of health teams, as well as leveraging digital tools to facilitate care and response efforts.
Furthermore, it promotes reactive interventions and chemoprevention, alongside new tools to achieve a radical cure of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria and reduce relapses. These measures are designed to better target interventions, respond more quickly to new cases, and focus efforts on the communities and territories where they can have the greatest impact.
“The Americas have shown that eliminating malaria is possible. The challenge now is to accelerate progress and ensure we reach the communities where transmission persists and where barriers to accessing health services are greatest,” said Dr Sylvain Aldighieri, Director of PAHO’s Department of Communicable Disease Prevention, Control and Elimination.
“Bringing diagnosis and treatment closer to people, together with the necessary political commitment and resources, will be key to moving towards zero malaria,” Dr Aldighieri added.
Although several countries have made significant progress, regional gains have been uneven. PAHO noted that between 2015 and 2025, cases decreased by just 4.6 per cent, from 480,000 to approximately 458,000.
Malaria also reflects significant inequalities in access to healthcare. Many of the most affected communities are located in remote areas, where vast distances, transport costs, and other barriers make timely diagnosis and treatment difficult.
Transmission is also highly concentrated: 22 municipalities across six countries reported more than 4,000 cases in 2025, accounting for 43 per cent of all malaria cases in the Americas. Just eight municipalities accounted for 25 per cent of the total, PAHO said, adding that this concentration provides an opportunity to target resources and interventions in the areas where they can contribute most directly to interrupting transmission.
However, the organisation noted that these challenges are compounded by the need to ensure sufficient and sustainable resources to advance elimination.
The plan urges countries to increase or, at a minimum, maintain domestic financing and seek mechanisms to sustain interventions over the long term. Without sustained financial commitment, PAHO warned, it will be difficult to expand prevention, diagnosis, and treatment efforts to reach vulnerable communities.
Despite these hurdles, the Americas have demonstrated that elimination is achievable. Since 2018, five countries have been certified as malaria-free: Argentina, Paraguay, El Salvador, Belize, and Suriname.
In 2025, Suriname also became the first country in the Amazon Basin to eliminate the disease. Meanwhile, regional malaria deaths decreased by nearly 20 per cent over a decade, falling from 169 in 2015 to 115 in 2025.
From control to elimination
The plan also proposes using surveillance as a direct intervention for elimination, ensuring that detected cases are investigated and followed by a rapid response to prevent new infections. Additionally, it calls for optimising vector control, adapting interventions to local conditions in each territory, and progressively establishing malaria-free subnational areas.
“Many of the people most affected by malaria live far from health services. If we want to interrupt transmission, anyone experiencing symptoms must be able to get tested quickly and, if they have malaria, start treatment without delay. The shift is towards making diagnosis and treatment available where people and affected communities live,” said Roberto Montoya, PAHO Regional Malaria Adviser.
The launch of the plan coincided with a regional meeting on Malaria Elimination in the Americas, which concluded in Brasilia on Friday. The event brought together health authorities, national malaria programme managers from endemic countries, experts, and international partners.
At the end of Friday’s meeting, PAHO also commemorated Malaria Day in the Americas under the theme “Zero Malaria in the Americas.”
