ABU DHABI, 23rd April, 2019 (WAM) -- The UAE will recognise World Malaria Day on 25th April, in light of the United Nations' appreciation of its global efforts to combat the disease.
The UAE has officially been free from malaria since 2007, and occupies the topmost position in the index of malaria cases per 100,000 population, which is part of the Global Competitiveness Reports 2018, according to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority.
The UAE, which has not registered any cases of malaria since 1997, is a leading supporter of international efforts to reduce the disease by 2030 to a rate of 90 percent, according to the World Health Organisation.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, donated funds to the "Malaria Elimination Partnership Programme" in 2017, as part of his continued support for international humanitarian causes.
The UAE's financial support has provided the required capital and helped develop new tools to eliminate malaria. It has also employed its expertise to reduce the spread of the disease in many countries, including Yemen.
The UAE, through the Emirates Red Crescent, supported the National Programme to Combat Malaria in Yemen by donating medicines and mosquito nets.
The Epidemiological Surveillance Programme of the Ministry of Health is tasked with detecting and treating cases of malaria in the UAE. The ministry also launched passenger clinics that offer free vaccines and preventative medicines to people travelling to malaria-endemic countries.
Malaria is an infectious parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes, and its symptoms include fever, anaemia and an enlarged spleen.
According to the UN, the number of malaria cases worldwide in 2016 was 216 million, while the number of deaths amounted to 445,000, mostly in Central Africa.
Malaria is a common and life-threatening mosquito-borne blood disease in many tropical and subtropical areas. There are currently over 100 countries and
territories where there is a risk of malaria transmission, and these are visited by more than 125 million international travellers every
year.