TEGUCIGALPA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Honduras have signed an agreement for 11 million U.S. dollars to combat malaria by 2020, the multilateral agency announced on Tuesday.
"The aim of this operation, which is called the Regional Initiative for the Elimination of Malaria (RIEM), is to contribute to the elimination of malaria in Honduras through the interruption of the transmission of the parasite from human to human," the agency said.
The Honduran Ministry of Health agreed to contribute around 7 million U.S. dollars and the rest is made up of donations from the Carlos Slim Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Global Fund.
Malaria can generate serious complications if contracted and can even be deadly. It is caused by a parasite that enters the human bloodstream through a mosquito bite.
A sizable part of the funds will be destined for the strengthening of the country's epidemiological surveillance system, the management of malaria outbreaks in areas where the disease is endemic, as well as the application of complementary measures like vector control and transmission prevention, the IDB said.
One of the main innovations of this project will ensure the detection and diagnosis of patients presenting with fever in the first 48 hours, and their respective treatment within the first 72 hours.
In 2018, malaria affected 642 people in 20 municipalities in Honduras, concentrated in the northeast department of Gracias a Dios.
