Eliminating malaria (case study 1): Achieving elimination in Turkmenistan

Eliminating malaria (case study 1): Achieving elimination in Turkmenistan

The WHO Global Malaria Programme and the Global Health Group at the University of California in San Francisco, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, launched a new series of case-studies on malaria elimination: Eliminating malaria. In this series, national malaria control programmes and researchers generate new evidence about what works – and what does not – for reaching and sustaining zero malaria transmission.

The objective of this work is to build an evidence base to support intensification of malaria elimination as an important step in achieving international malaria targets. Ten case-studies are being prepared that, together, will provide insights into and lessons to be learnt from a wide range of elimination approaches and geographical settings.

This case-study describes and evaluates the policies and strategies used to contain malaria outbreaks in Turkmenistan in the 1990s and early 2000s and the process subsequently used to eliminate malaria from the country. Lessons for countries that are embarking upon elimination are distilled.