History of Anti Malaria Campaign

1911

Establishment of Anti-Malaria Campaign

The first antimalaria center in the country was set up at the town of Kurunegala in Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon before mid-1972).

1913

Expansion of Activities

S.P. James and S.T. Gunasekera first incriminated the mosquito Anopheles culicifacies as the vector of malaria in the country.

1921

First Malariologist

Henry F. Carter was appointed as the first malariologist in the country. Until his retirement in the 1950s. Carter made an enormous contribution to malariology in the country. vector-control measures started in 1921 and consisted mainly of draining, filling, clearing and oiling of actual and potential breeding places and the introduction of larvivorous fish

1934/35

Devastating Epidemic

The epidemic is the greatest pestilence in the recorded history of the island. It destroyed 80,000 live in seven months. violence of the epidemic was extreme; scarcely a single individual escaped. The havoc caused by the epidemic was not limited to the sickness and death. The epidemic in short was a catastrophe of the first magnitude...

1946

Introduction of DDT

With the introduction of DDT in 1946, malaria morbidity and mortality declined steadily. In 1955, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the goal of global eradication of malaria with a four-phase program: preparatory, attack, consolidation, and maintenance

1958

Eradication Program

With a declining trend in malaria transmission in Sri Lanka in the 1950s, which was in most part due to the use of indoor residual spraying of DDT, the adoption of an eradication programme was seen as a natural continuation of earlier efforts...

1963

Near Eradication

In 1963, parasite incidence reached a remarkably low-point with only 17 cases of malaria, which included only six indigenous cases (rest were imported). Given the favorable indicators, in April, 1963, spraying was halted throughout the country except for barrier spraying around jungle areas...

1967/68

Resurgence

With elimination around the corner, Sri Lankan government authorities became complacent and made a disastrous mistake. Continuous vigilance was not maintained and control measures were reduced...

1969

DDT resistance in An.culicifacies first detected

In 1969, potential resistance to DDT was detected by the Anti-Malaria Campaign, which is believed to be a major cause for the resurgence of malaria island-wide. By 1974, DDT resistance was established in all vector species. Public opposition to indoor DDT spraying also contributed to vector control failure. Consequently, selective residual spraying under strict supervision was adopted.

1975

Introduction of malathion

In 1975, Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) with Malathion was phased in across high P. falciparum areas in Uva Province. In 1976, after 30 years, DDT spraying was officially discontinued island-wide and replaced by Malathion. The government banned agricultural import and use of Malathion and Fenitrothion to delay vector resistance.

1984

Chloroquine-resistant P.falciparum first detected

First detection of Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in Sri Lanka.

1989

Activities of Antimalaria campaign is decentralized

The Anti-Malaria Campaign (AMC) Directorate in Colombo guides and coordinates all malaria control activities. Under the purview of the AMC is formulation of national malaria control policy, monitoring national malaria trends, technical guidance to subnational malaria control programmes...

1992

Widespread Malathion resistance in An. culicifacies detected

Widespread Malathion resistance detected in Anopheles culicifacies.

1994

Introduction of Lambda Cyhalothrin

Introduction of Lambda-cyhalothrin in Kurunegala and Fenitrothion in Puttalam following pesticide rotation guidelines.

1996-7

Shift in IRS strategy to targeted spray (High risk areas)

Shift from blanket spraying to targeted spraying in high-risk transmission areas.

1998

World Bank project commenced

Launch of the World Bank-assisted Malaria Control Project to strengthen decentralization and technical capacity.

1999

RBM initiative Launched

However, in 1999, with the support of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Sri Lankan government began to reinforce control measures, and managed to successfully reduce the occurrence of malaria by 68% in 2000-2001 alone...

2003

Global Fund Support begins

Global Fund (GFATM) support commenced, providing grants for the first-ever procurement and distribution of LLINs in Sri Lanka.

2007

ACT introduced

Introduction of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria treatment.

2012

Elimination Phase

When the armed conflict ended in 2009, the Malaria Elimination Project, aiming for elimination by 2014, was launched the same year. In 2011, only 175 cases were reported, a decrease of 99.9% from the 1999 level... The last indigenous case of malaria was reported in October 2012.

2016

WHO Certification

Sri Lanka certified as a malaria-free country by the WHO.

History of the Campaign