Why in news?
- According to the WHO, no endogenous malaria cases reported in 2018 by four countries from Asia— China, Iran, Malaysia and Timor-Leste — and one from Central America— El Salvador.
- Such countries were included in the E-2020 campaign initiated by the WHO in 2016, focusing on efforts to reduce malaria by 2020 in 21 countries spread across five continents.
What is the E-2020?
- This is a new strategy used by the new Global Order, which was pioneered by the WHO to eradicate malaria in the span of 15 years by monitoring milestones on their path towards success.
- The countries were chosen based on three criteria: (1) trends in cases (2)incidences of a country (3) informed expert opinion in that industry.
- Together these 21 malaria-exterminating countries are part of an effort to eliminate malaria within ambitious but technically feasible achievable timeframes, known as the E-2020 initiative, supported by the WHO and other partners.
- Malaria is India’s leading death cause and recorded 4 lakh deaths in 2017.
- However, in 2017, India reported success on its cases of malaria with 24 percent decrease in cases from 2016.
