Strengthening Regional Response to Malaria and Other Communicable Diseases in Asia and the Pacific

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Regional cooperation and integration is one of three institutional objectives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) corporate guidance in Strategy 2020, which recognizes health security from the control of communicable diseases as a regional public good. The Operational Plan for Health and the Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy also highlight ADB's role in supporting Asia and the Pacific to expand opportunities for addressing health challenges at regional and subregional levels. The region continues to face communicable disease challenges, including a continuing burden from malaria, particularly in border areas. Malaria control and elimination remain relevant to the health agenda, even as many countries have made strong progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on malaria (6c) of reducing by 75% the incidence of malaria by 2015. After 2015, countries in the region are targeting further reductions, with some countries declaring malaria elimination goals within the next 1015 years. However, sustained progress in reducing malaria will depend on better regional cooperation to prevent cross-border transmission; sustained attention from national health authorities; maintaining financing, even as malaria garners less global and national concern as a result of lower incidence; and containing growing artemisinin resistance (drug-resistant) malaria, particularly in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). High-level engagement within and beyond the health sector is needed if malaria control and elimination are to be achieved.This regional technical assistance (TA) will support regional leadership and cooperation on malaria control and elimination, including containment of drug-resistant malaria, and pave the way for strengthened regional cooperation on long-term control and prevention of communicable diseases. It will help build stronger collaboration between governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders, to improve regional leadership, financing, and drug management for malaria.