Eliminating malaria (case study 7): Elimination of malaria on the island of Reunion 40 years on

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 case-study series is to build an evidence base to support intensification of malaria elimination as an important step in achieving international malaria targets. Ten case-studies were prepared and all together provide insights into and lessons to be learned from a wide range of elimination approaches and geographical settings.

This report will allow others to draw on Reunion’s experience and learn from this rare example of successful implementation of the interventions and strategies advocated by the GMEP and carried out in a small island territory with a tropical climate and a typical African vector. The information on prevention of reintroduction, which has been collected and analysed in this report, is also extremely
valuable and could guide the development of similar programmes in regions where local transmission has recently been interrupted.