Malaria Control Programme in Thailand

1. Background In 1949 malaria was the leading cause of death with over 38,000 deaths, a rate of 201.5 per 100,000 population. The only two control measures being available were drug distribution and mosquito protection. A WHO-UNICEF Malaria Control Demonstration Project was conducted in a northern province. During the same period the Thai Government established similar projects in other areas. The results of these projects showed that DDT residual spraying was encouraging. In 1951 the government, with US assistance developed country-wide Malaria Control Programme. By 1955 the control programme was gradually extended to cover 12 million population. Active case detection was also started in some areas. In 1963 malaria death rate showed a reduction to 22.8/100,000 population. The first plan of operation for the Malaria Eradication Programme commenced, according to WHO policy. Following difficulties of funding and technical constraints, Malaria Control Programme was developed in 1971-1973 with more attention directed to the forested areas and was considered as a long term project in the Fifth Five -Year National Socio -economic development plan. In 1995 following the adoption of the Global Malaria Control Strategy and the recommendations of the external and internal review panels, the malaria control policy was revised.