Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39180067›Full record

ArticleMalaria journal2024

Preventing the re-establishment of malaria during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka: implications for health security.

Kamini Mendis, Deepika Fernando, Prasad Ranaweera, Kumudu Gunasekera, Thilan Fernando, Gretchen Newby, Ruwanthi Perera, Amandhi Caldera, Rajitha Wickremasinghe

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Malaria journal, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Observational
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Kamini Mendis *Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Deepika Fernando *Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Prasad RanaweeraAnti Malaria Campaign, Ministry of Health, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Kumudu GunasekeraAnti Malaria Campaign, Ministry of Health, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Thilan FernandoAnti Malaria Campaign, Ministry of Health, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Gretchen NewbyMalaria Elimination Initiative, Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Ruwanthi PereraDepartment of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, P.O. Box 6, Ragama, 11010, Sri Lanka.
Amandhi CalderaDepartment of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, P.O. Box 6, Ragama, 11010, Sri Lanka.
Rajitha Wickremasinghe *Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, P.O. Box 6, Ragama, 11010, Sri Lanka. rajwicks@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic-with its first reported case in Sri Lanka in March 2020-had the potential to impact the risk of re-establishing malaria, a disease which was eliminated from Sri Lanka in 2012. Post-elimination, the country remains highly vulnerable to a return of malaria on account of high vector mosquito densities and the inflow of imported malaria cases.

methodsParallels between COVID-19 and malaria after its elimination as health security threats were drawn, and the many ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the prevention of re-establishment of malaria programmes in the country in 2020 were examined. The implications of this experience for global health security are analysed.

resultsIn 2020, imported malaria cases were fewer than in the previous 3 years, due to restrictions on international travel. Yet, a high level of malaria case and entomological surveillance was sustained through surveillance strategies modified to focus on quarantine centers, in response to the pandemic. As a result, more imported malaria cases were detected by active case detection than by passive surveillance. Some of the operational shifts adopted by the Anti Malaria Campaign were moving rapidly into functioning as an intersectoral player by reinforcing its collaborations with the Ministries of Aviation and Defense, switching to the use of online communication systems, and integrating and synergizing its field activities with the COVID-19 control programme.

conclusionsThe experience highlights the need for disease control programmes to be agile, flexible and responsive, and underscores the importance of maintaining even a lean focal programme for diseases such as malaria after they have been eliminated. Sustaining public health leadership and robust technological capacities in communication and data management were paramount in preventing the disruption of the malaria prevention programme during the pandemic and sustaining the malaria-free status of the country.

Indexed as

COVID-19MalariaHumansPandemicsSARS-CoV-2Sri LankaCOVID-19Health securityMalariaPrevention of re-establishmentSri Lanka

Identifiers

PMID39180067
PMCPMC11342602

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.