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Source: paho.org
7 November 2019 – The municipality of Puerto Lempiras is located in a dense jungle that is only accessible by water transport, or by aircraft. The Miskito Indians are the predominant ethnic group in the area, where most malaria cases in the country are reported.
Efforts by health authorities and partners, however, have resulted in a 92 percent reduction in malaria cases since 2016.
In the Honduras jungle area of Puerto Lempira, with a network of 167 trained volunteers, the malaria program used technologies that allowed identification of each malaria focus and strategies to reduce the malaria burden such as distributing insecticide nets, performing indoor residual spraying for mosquitoes, and treating cases, resulting in a 92 percent decline in cases of malaria.
“This malaria champion is an example of how sustained investments on key malaria elimination interventions, engagement and capacity building of volunteer collaborators, and appropriate use of technology can effectively pave the way towards malaria elimination for high burden areas and challenging environments,” the award noted.