Malaria & COVID-19
The SARS-COV-2 or COVID-19 has posed unprecedented challenges, raised global attention, and placed health on top of national and global political agendas. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health workforces and highlighted the strengths and weakness of our health systems.
- COVID-19 has highlighted the urgency of investing in broader health systems strengthening for countries to be better respond to existing emerging, re-emerging infectious disease threats.
- This pandemic has made the concept of global and regional health security more tangible than ever, underpinning the importance of both cross-border and cross-agency collaboration to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
- COVID-19 and the rush for innovations to prevent, detect and treat has sped up Research and Development processes and registration pathways for new commodities.
- Supply chains of other commodities have been shaken to the core with attention being diverted to COVID-19 commodities, impacted the production and supply of other essential drugs such as antimalarials.
The WHO has advised that countries sustain efforts against malaria and other existing diseases. Several reflections can be made on the impact of this pandemic on other disease elimination efforts in Asia Pacific including efforts to elimination malaria by 2030.
- Making diseases notifiable by law to rapidly detect and report threats of global nature is a key function of a functioning and responsible surveillance system
- Real-time data sharing across borders is key to inform targeted responses and ensure adequate collaboration between affected countries.
- Integrated surveillance and response systems can ensure that we make optimal use of limited human and financial resources to support health security going forward.
This section invites you to browse through different resources on the challenges posed by the pandemic to other infectious disease efforts. We include documentation on lessons learnt across countries to strengthen our health systems globally, and support the fight against existing, emerging and re-emerging communicable diseases.
Featured stories
Covid-19: The road to equity and solidarity
The pandemic is a stark reminder of the importance of equity and solidarity. As we move forward, it is vital that we explore the drivers of the pandemic, learn from the global response, and become more prepared for the future.
The BMJ have developed a collection of articles which analyze some of the major global issues arising from the pandemic, including the role of social determinants of health, the value of indices of preparedness, and the need for all countries to act together to reduce inequality at all levels, protect health, and organize a more effective response to climate change.
Malaysia: Responding to the dual challenge of Malaria and COVID-19
