| Tutankhamun, the boy-pharaoh who ruled Egypt more than 3,300 years ago, is thought to have had malaria — a mosquito-borne disease that plagued all Egyptians, not only the royals, since ancient times. Now finally, Egypt has been certified malaria-free. It's taken a century of directed efforts and is significant for the nation's more than 100 million inhabitants. Ridding a country of the disease that globally kills almost 620,000 people a year is no easy task. Bed nets, sprays and a variety of therapeutic drugs that the parasite is becoming increasingly resistant to are the defenses that are commonly available. Certification of malaria elimination is given by the World Health Organization when a country proves that the chain of local transmission by the insects has been interrupted nationwide for at least three consecutive years. A country must also show it can prevent spread being re-established. Egypt is only the third country in the region, after the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, to be declared clear of malaria.
Efforts to reduce human-mosquito contact in Egypt began in the 1920s when the country prohibited the cultivation of agricultural crops such as rice near homes. A decade later, with most of its population living along the banks of the Nile River, malaria prevalence was as high as 40%. By 1942, malaria cases had spiked to more than 3 million and Egypt recruited more than 4,000 health workers and set up specific treatment centers to combat the outbreak. Today, malaria diagnosis and treatment are provided free-of-charge to anyone in Egypt and regular screening is done, including at borders. Situated on the north eastern bulge of Africa, Egypt will continue to focus on surveillance, management of the small flies with piercing-sucking mouthparts and rapid response to any imported cases, says Deputy Prime Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar. The bulk of malaria infections tend to occur further south on the African continent with most deaths in children younger than five years. Still, the tide may be turning here too as earlier this year children in Cameroon and Ivory Coast became the first nations to deploy malaria shots. More African countries plan to start routine vaccinations. Malaria has arguably been one of the world's most neglected diseases with most deaths occurring among the poor. This has meant the development of a vaccine has been slowed by the lack of a lucrative commercial market. The tendency of the parasite to mutate has also made it harder to produce an effective shot. In the next six years, the WHO aims to reduce both the incidence of malaria and deaths by 90%, and to eliminate it in 35 countries. With Egypt's new status — it's the first nation since 2010 to be awarded a malaria-free certification — and the emerging use in Africa of the new vaccines, the world is inching closer to that target. — Janice Kew | 
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