Rates of malaria are at the lowest level in decades, the U.N. health agency reported on Tuesday, and two more countries, Morocco and Turkmenistan, have eliminated the disease. Eleven countries in Africa, the continent with the highest incidence, have cut malaria cases and deaths by more than 50 percent, while 32 of 56 countries outside Africa where malaria is endemic have also seen a decrease of more than 50 percent in confirmed cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its annual World Malaria Report. “The results set out in this report are the best seen in decades. After so many years of deterioration and stagnation in the malaria situation, countries and their development partners are now on the offensive. Current strategies work,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. The report attributes the progress to a massive scale-up in malaria control programs over the past two years. --MORE
