Asia to fight resurgent malaria

BANGLADESH: Health Ministers from 11 South and Southeast Asian nations meeting in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka pledged yesterday to step up the fight against the spread of malaria in the region.

The ministers agreed to increase spending for prevention of the disease and set a target of giving 80 percent of households access to pesticide-treated mosquito nets by 2010, a statement said. Health ministers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Maldives, North Korea, Myanmar and Thailand are attending the two-day meeting.

Experts say there has been an increase in cases of malaria in all the countries meeting in Dhaka except the Maldives.

An estimated 250 million people are infected with malaria each year and some one million people die annually, according to researchers.

Malaria death rates in developing countries are rising because the emergence of drug-resistant parasites has made traditional drugs ineffective.

"Malaria...is a big concern for all of us and the ministers sought a united strategy to fight the disease," said Golam Kibria, a spokesman for the Bangladesh health ministry. "All the countries have agreed to enhance the use of pesticide-treated mosquito nets as they have proved to be an effective tool to fight the disease."

In addition, the 11 nations agreed to share information and work together to fight bird flu, he said, The ministers were also due to discuss strategies to deal with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and preparedness for natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes.