Progress towards malaria elimination: insights from Cambodia's mobile malaria workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

TL;DR

Cambodia's malaria control efforts, especially by mobile workers, faced challenges during the pandemic but adapted to maintain progress toward elimination.

Contribution

The paper highlights how mobile malaria workers adapted to pandemic restrictions to sustain malaria control in remote areas.

Findings

Malaria cases in Cambodia are increasingly concentrated in remote populations.

Mobile malaria workers minimized disruption to malaria services during the pandemic through local adaptations.

Close communication with health authorities helped protect both workers and beneficiaries during pandemic restrictions.

Abstract

Significant progress has been made in Cambodia towards malaria control and the goal of achieving elimination of all species by 2025. These efforts require constant vigilance and agility in malaria programming to maintain forward momentum. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these achievements were threatened by restrictive pandemic control measures, necessitating swift action from the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control and partners to safeguard critical malaria services, primarily case detection and treatment by mobile malaria workers (MMWs) among hard-to-reach populations. As malaria cases have declined in Cambodia, infections are increasingly focused among remote populations further from primary healthcare services. Thus, the greatest threat to malaria control during the pandemic consisted of the logistical and communication challenges faced by MMWs travelling to remote regions while movement was restricted. Through locally tailored implementation of these services and close communication with health authorities, Malaria Consortium's MMWs were able to minimise disruption of Cambodia's malaria control programme while ensuring staff and beneficiaries were protected.