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The Ministry of Health held a kick-off meeting in collaboration with the Suriname Malaria Project: Suriname to be certified malaria-free was held at Utopia Heritage on Friday. The aim of this meeting is to inform and involve all health organizations, national and international partners and other stakeholders in the final stages of WHO certification of malaria elimination. The process of obtaining certification requires a huge effort. Attention must be paid to maintaining vigilance, optimal testing of personnel, quality of services and maintaining data collection and analysis.
By August, Suriname will have been free of malaria infection for three consecutive years. The recent cases have all been imported, mostly from neighboring countries. On this basis, Suriname is eligible for the World Health Organization’s malaria elimination certificate, the Public Health Report said.
The Director of Public Health, Rakesh Gajadar Sukur, stated that it has been a very difficult road, but thanks in particular to the hard work of experts, there is currently no malaria transmission in the Surinamese population. Gajadar Sukur believes that society should be aware of the dangers of the disease. It is also necessary to raise awareness of “how we can achieve this state together, but most importantly how we maintain it. Achieving the elimination state is not everything, keeping it at 0 transmission is the hard work”.
Minister Amar Ramadhin thanked all funding agencies for their continued support in this process. The Minister stressed that maintaining elimination is crucial and sustainable financing must be adopted. He believed that joint efforts should be made with experts to establish a fund aimed at malaria elimination and its protection. The Minister thanked all experts and health professionals for their efforts in recent years.
PAHO/WHO Representative Afra Ouattara said WHO will continue to provide the necessary technical support to the sector to achieve the ultimate goal. He also stressed that this is a long process, but by going through this process together, the investment made now will achieve the ultimate goal.
Certification is planned to take place around February/March 2025.
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