Jordan ‘free’ of malaria infections-JCDC

Amman: Head of Jordanian National Center for Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Control (JCDC), Adel Bilbisi, said Jordan is "free of any local cases" of malaria since the 1970s, thanks to the national efforts to combat this disease, which is still ravaging to this day. Bilbisi's announcement came during the JCDC's celebration Thursday of World Malaria Day, which falls on April 25 annually, and marked this year under the theme : "Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives." According to a JCDC statement, Bilbisi stressed that today's occasion is a continuous warning that such diseases, despite their endemicity in tropical regions, yet risk of local transmission is still possible due to the continued arrival of imported infections, presence of some Anopheles carriers, and availability of suitable environmental and climatic conditions in some areas of the Kingdom. Bilbisi added that this year's theme highlights global efforts to combat malaria, which aims to raise its related awareness, explain its symptoms, and prevention and treatment methods. Additionally, he stressed that the JCDC is working with the Kingdom's relevant authorities, through coordination and follow-up, to develop process of monitoring communicable diseases, aimed to combat them and ensure early detection of pandemics. The center, he noted, worked to define its priorities in a strategic plan that is "comprehensive and applicable," which is based on integrated control of communicable diseases within One Health approach, in cooperation with all partners at the national level. In this regard, he said the JCDC focused on vector-borne and communicable diseases with a pandemic tendency, adding that the center worked to prepare a national plan to prepare to confront epidemic diseases and respond to outbreaks. Source: Jordan News Agency