Venezuela falls behind in the struggle against malaria
The disease has declined by 40% in countries such as Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay in 2000-2010. Such has not been the case in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Haiti, where malaria is far from being eliminated. Asia Pacific is still vulnerable
The population at risk of malaria in the Americas amounts to 160 million people, according to the report "Defeating malaria in Asia, the Pacific, Americas, Middle East and Europe," prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) under the auspices of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership, Efe highlighted.
In 2000, there were 1.18 million confirmed cases of malaria in the Americas. A decade later, the figure declined to 669,000. In 2008, there were 133 malaria deaths, a 60% decline compared to the number of deaths recorded in 2000.
Out of the 21 countries in the Americas fighting against malaria, Argentina, El Salvador, Mexico, and Paraguay are very close to eliminate the illness, while the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Haiti fall behind.
The majority of malaria cases in the Americas arise from the Amazon Basin in districts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela, where reported annual incidence rates frequently exceed 50 cases per 1,000 inhabitants.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Brazil on March 13 to demand the ouster of embattled President Dilma Rousseff, carrying banners expressing anger at bribery scandals and economic woes. A banner read "We don't want a new Venezuela in Brazil."