Malaria Technical Unit – Common Management Unit

Our Vision

Pakistan free from malaria by 2035.

Mission

The Malaria Technical Unit at CMU aims to achieve malaria elimination by ensuring equitable and universal access to effective curative and preventive services to everyone at risk of malaria in close coordination with the efforts of all the communities, national and international non-government organizations, private sector stakeholders, United Nations agencies and financial partners.

Achieving the vision of “Pakistan free from malaria” will contribute significantly to poverty alleviation as malaria is most prevalent in the poorest segment of the population.

Goals

In line with the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030, the goals of the National Plan for Malaria Elimination in Pakistan, 2021-2030 are as follows:

Ultimately interrupt transmission of and eliminating indigenous malaria throughout the entire country by 2035.
Maintain malaria-free status in areas where malaria transmission has been interrupted and prevent re-establishment of local transmission.

General Objectives

The plan has four general objectives:

Reducing the incidence of malaria to less than 1 case per 1000 population at risk in all Provinces/Federal Territories by 2030.
Interrupting transmission of and eliminating indigenous P. falciparum malaria throughout the entire country by 2030.
Interrupting transmission of and eliminating indigenous malaria in a phased manner progressively across the country by 2035.
Preventing the re-establishment of local malaria transmission due to importation in all areas where it has been eliminated before and beyond 2035.

Milestones and Targets

By the end of 2020:

Pakistan has developed and endorsed the NSP-ME 2021-2035, and national elimination campaign has been officially launched across the country.

By the end of 2023:

An estimated reduction in the reported malaria incidence of 10 % at the national level compared with 2019.
The re-establishment of local transmission prevented in areas where malaria has been eliminated.

By the end of 2025:

An estimated reduction in the reported malaria incidence of 30% at the national level compared with 2019.
Transmission of malaria including P. falciparum malaria interrupted and zero incidence of indigenous cases of malaria including P. falciparum malaria attained in Provinces/Federal Territories (Punjab, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad Capital Territory) and these Provinces/Federal Territories moved from Category 2 to Category 3.
The re-establishment of local transmission prevented in areas where malaria has been eliminated.

By the end of 2030:

An estimated reduction in the reported malaria incidence of 70% at the national level compared with 2019.
API reached the elimination threshold in four Provinces/Federal Territories: Sindh, Balochistan, KP & Merged Areas/ex-FATA and these Provinces/Federal Territories moved from Category 1 to Category 2.
Transmission of P. falciparum interrupted, and zero indigenous P. falciparum cases attained throughout the entire country.
The re-establishment of local transmission prevented in areas where malaria has been eliminated.

By the end of 2035:

Transmission of malaria interrupted, and zero incidence of indigenous cases attained in all Provinces/Federal Territories throughout the entire country.
The re-establishment of local transmission prevented in areas where malaria has been eliminated

Current Statistics

Pakistan has been categorized by WHO in group-3 countries of Eastern Mediterranean Region, along with Afghanistan, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, sharing 95% of the total regional malaria disease burden.
During 2022, around 1.7 million confirmed malaria cases were reported from public and private health facilities all over country, out of which 67% were Plasmodium Vivax, 32% were Plasmodium Falciparum cases while 1% were Mix infections.
More than 90% of disease burden in the country is shared by the highly endemic districts mostly located in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and the Merged Areas of KP.

Our Services

Universal coverage for free of cost malaria diagnosis & treatment services (around 2600 Govt/public and 1850 private microscopy & RDT centres).
Capacity building of healthcare service providers including doctors & paramedics on malaria treatment (complicated and uncomplicated cases), malaria diagnosis (microscopy and RDT), quality assurance and malaria information system (MIS) including the DHIS-2.
Prevention of Malaria in high-risk population through the Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and Indoor Residual Spray (IRS). Approx. 22.6 million mosquito nets have been distributed during 2009-2022.
Improving health seeking behaviour of people through Radio campaign, Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) sessions and other mass media measures.
Enhancing technical and managerial capacity of Provincial malaria control programs for planning, managing and monitoring of malaria control interventions in the targeted districts and agencies.