Malaria elimination: surveillance and response

In the last decade, substantial progress has been made in reducing malaria-associated morbidity and mortality across the globe. Nevertheless, sustained malaria control is essential to continue this downward trend. In some countries, where aggressive malaria control has reduced malaria to a low burden level, elimination, either nationally or subnationally, is now the aim. As countries or areas with a low malaria burden move towards elimination, there is a transition away from programs of universal coverage towards a strategy of localized detection and response to individual malaria cases. To do so and succeed, it is imperative that a strong surveillance and response system is supported, that community cadres are trained to provide appropriate diagnostics and treatment, and that field diagnostics are further developed such that their sensitivity allows for the detection and subsequent treatment of malaria reservoirs in low prevalence environments. To be certain, there are big challenges on the road to elimination, notably the development of drug and insecticide resistance. Nevertheless, countries like Zambia are making great strides towards implementing systems that support malaria elimination in target areas. Continued development of new diagnostics and antimalarial therapies is needed to support progress in malaria control and elimination.