Geneva, Dec. 13 — Malaria has retreated in almost all of Latin America.

Costa Rica is listed as free of malaria transmission by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it, along with several other countries will be certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coming years.

The exceptions to this positive trend are Peru, Nicaragua, and, most worrying of all, Venezuela, where cases have tripled in the last five years.

“We are seeing progress, there is no doubt about this. But there are more complicated places, with high prevalence and where progress is slower. There are also circumstances where we see setbacks and a notable case is Venezuela,” said Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO Malaria Program.

He noted that “there is a massive increase in malaria in the country,” while in other countries in the region – Peru and Nicaragua, in particular – have also seen an increase in malaria cases, although more moderate.

“This is a reminder that malaria is a difficult disease. History has shown us that if we lift our foot off the accelerator we can quickly slide backwards,” Alonso reflected in a public presentation of the annual report on malaria’s worldwide evolution.

According to the statistics included in the study, the estimated number of malaria cases in Venezuela in 2015 was 230,000, and 220 deaths, compared to 78,000 cases and 72 deaths in 2010.

“In the last malaria eradication campaign in the 1960s, Venezuela was the country that made the most improvements, and 40 years later it is the one that is doing the worst,” said the Alonso.

He acknowledged that the evolution of malaria “is not linear and depends on multiple factors that make it cause the disease to either progress or decline.”

Among the factors that have influenced the backsliding experienced by Venezuela, he mentioned that “there are clear problems” in access to diagnostic tests, treatments, and in the distribution of mosquito nets.

He also noted that migratory populations and “some of the upset in the country in recent years have contributed to this situation.”

Peru is another country where there has been a considerable increase in cases, with 150,000 last year compared to 63,000 in 2010, which WHO experts believe may be due, among other causes, to climatic conditions caused by El Niño.

Peru has returned to where they were fifteen years ago when malaria infections reached 140,000, according to the report.

Nicaragua is another country where the WHO continues to focus on malaria where there were 4,600 cases in 2015 compared with 1,400 just five years ago.

Brazil, on the other hand, shows a positive evolution, with 180,000 cases and 50 deaths last year, compared to 440,000 patients and 98 deaths in 2010.

“The message is not that Latin America is doing poorly, but well. Argentina will soon be certified malaria free, Paraguay will surely be certified in 2018, and we are starting the certification process with Costa Rica. A significant proportion of countries that will eliminate malaria come from this region,” said Alonso.

Among the 21 countries that have set the target and are likely to be certified malaria free by 2020, the expert also cited El Salvador and Mexico.

Despite progress in the global fight against malaria, the deadly disease continues to cause 429,000 deaths each year, of which 70 percent are children.

Among children under five, malaria is one of the major causes of global mortality, with one death every two minutes.

Sub-sahara Africa accounts for 92 percent of all malaria deaths in the world, and 90 percent of the world’s 212 million malaria cases. EFE