Thailand breaks hold of malaria

By Larry Jagan
BBC correspondent in Bangkok

Malaria was once the scourge of South-East Asia, but in the past few decades it has been eradicated from many parts of the region.

Thailand in particular was badly affected but now much of the country is malaria-free.

Although successive Thai governments have tried to eradicate the disease, general economic development seems to be the factor that finally rid the country of malaria.

In the 1970s and 1980s, rapid economic progress led to a major increase in the urban population, especially in the major cities like Bangkok.

The proliferation of air conditioning there, especially in domestic dwellings, also made life difficult for the mosquitoes.

The government's concerted strategy of improving the city's sanitation, covering sewerage channels and cleaning up the stagnant pools where the mosquitoes bred helped finally put an end to the dangers of malaria.

So too did a massive campaign of spraying pesticides in infested areas.

The irony, though, is that along Thailand's border, especially with Burma and Cambodia, some of the most drug-resistant strains of parasitic malaria remain a major problem, claiming many lives a year.