Efforts to eliminate malaria risk in the Greater Mekong Subregion has fostered accountable leadership, increased financing, and stronger regional cooperation. The initiatives have been multi-country, cross-border, and multi-sector. Asian leaders have committed to a malaria elimination road map, domestic funding for malaria elimination has increased, and ADB has offered its first health bond for GMS countries.
Increased regional and economic integration has propelled drug-resistant malaria to become a regional public health concern. In the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), malaria occurs in or near forested areas, often along country borders, traversing newly developed transport corridors and trade routes, and affecting especially migrant and mobile workers who lack access to health services.
Through the Regional Malaria and other Communicable Disease Threats Trust Fund (RMTF), ADB and partners looked for ways to support the elimination of drug-resistant malaria in the GMS. While many civil society organizations and other development partners provide support for malaria related health services on the ground, an ADB project focused on addressing “upstream” health system challenges. The project covered GMS countries: Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
Interventions
Reducing malaria risk to the Asia and Pacific region and globally, especially from drug-resistant malaria and other communicable disease threats, requires greater regional cooperation. The RMTF developed multi-country, cross-border, and multi-sector responses to address the root causes of drug-resistant malaria and other communicable disease threats. The project, one of several interrelated interventions under the RMTF, covered activities that would
Galvanize malaria elimination leadership at the highest level and provide decision support for accountability;
Introduce innovative mechanisms for malaria elimination financing and donor collaboration;
Support regulatory and disease control bodies to work more effectively, strengthen post-market surveillance of anti-malarials, and to collaborate with regional counterparts;
Stimulate the appetite for transformational digital interventions and improved capacity, resulting in increased surveillance and automated reporting of malaria and communicable diseases;
Strengthen the role of health impact assessment for malaria prevention in infrastructure projects and special economic zones in border areas. Results The project supported the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) in leveling up regional cooperation and increasing financing for malaria and communicable disease threats. Specifically, the project focused on developing a malaria elimination dashboard, to be used by 20 countries within and beyond the GMS, to track progress towards malaria elimination and provide oversight of funding gaps. The dashboard serves as a tool to inform high-level dialogue for, and review performance on, malaria elimination, resulting in the creation of ADB’s first health bond to support health financing. APLMA was established in 2013 with strong political support from heads of states at the 8th East Asian Summit.
Armed with country regulatory system capacity building roadmaps, national regulatory authorities are becoming more efficient in detecting and reporting substandard and fake medicines, which are important in cleaning up the drug market to provide only quality medicine to consumers.
The project also supported the development of common, standardized geo-registries, and capacity building on the use of geographic information systems tools to benefit from the power of geospatial data and technologies for disease surveillance. It also promoted health impact assessments (HIA) as valuable tools for ensuring that infrastructure projects have less impact on the health of the poor and vulnerable. HIAs were undertaken for several infrastructure projects located in regions vulnerable to malaria and other communicable disease threats.