Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are the most common types of malaria in the WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region. Deaths due to malaria are mainly due to P. falciparum; however, reports in the past few years indicate an increasing incidence of severe vivax malaria.
The burden of malaria in the SEA Region is still high; it is second to Sub-Saharan Africa: – around 1.32 billion people are at risk of malaria – most cases are among the productive age groups, mainly the poor and vulnerable populations (e.g. migrant workers, subsistence farmers, ethnic communities) – in 2010, the reported cases and deaths due to malaria were 2.4 million and 2426, respectively; WHO estimated that there were 28 million cases and 38 000 deaths due to malaria.
Transmission occurs in 10 of the 11 countries in the SEA Region, mainly in hard-to-reach rural areas and, in some urban areas in India. Maldives has been free of malaria since 1984.
From 2000 to 2010, the incidence of malaria in the Region was reduced from 30 to 22 per 1000 population at risk, and the malaria mortality rate was reduced from 4.2 to 3.0 per 100 000 population at risk.