PAHO and CAF sign agreement to strengthen malaria response in Amazon border regions – PAHO/WHO
Washington DC April 22, 2025 – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) signed a memorandum of understanding today to strengthen the control activities of malaria in the Amazon border regions of the Americas countries.
The objective of the agreement is to address some of the main barriers to achieve malaria in the border areas of the region, even through strengthening the exchange of experiences between countries.
«The Paho welcomes this collaboration with CAF with approval to ensure that all the populations of the Americas benefit from the latest advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria,» said the director of the PAHO, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa. «Working with border areas is key to addressing malaria at the regional level and advancing in the objectives of the disease elimination initiative.»
«In CAF, we are committed to promoting sustainable development and improving the quality of life in the region,» said Sergio Díaz-Granados, executive president of CAF. «This association with Paho represents a vital step to address health inequalities in vulnerable border communities in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru, ensuring that no one is behind in the fight against malaria.»
Cooperation between the two organizations will focus on the following initiatives:
- Identify the main barriers to guarantee rapid diagnosis and malaria treatment;
- Train community health workers and primary health personnel on the use of rapid diagnostic tests;
- Expand local detection, diagnosis and response networks;
- Community participation activities
- Strengthen the exchange of epidemiological information between countries in border areas.
When it comes to the elimination of malaria, the border areas of Amazonian countries constitute some of the greatest challenges in the region of the Americas. This is mainly due to difficulties in accessing some of the most remote indigenous populations in the areas, as well as high levels of movement of the population, and the challenges that coordinate joint actions in all countries.
The indigenous populations of the Amazon are among the most affected by malaria. In 2023, 31% of all cases of malaria and 41% of the deaths occurred between these groups.
Malaria is an acute febrile disease caused by Plasmodium parasite, which is transmitted by the mosquito of infected female anopheles. Symptoms include fever, headache and chills, which can be mild. Leaded not treated, malaria can progress to a serious illness and even death.
Malaria cases in the Americas are mainly driven by high -loading countries in South America, where indigenous communities and mobile populations are the most affected. In 2023, the countries of the region reported more than 505,000 cases of malaria, of which approximately 70% were detected in territories of the Amazon Basin shared by 8 countries.
Malaria is one of the diseases addressed by the initiative for the elimination of Paho’s disease, which seeks to eliminate more than 30 related diseases and conditions from the region by 2030.
