(Medical Xpress)—Despite nearly three decades of conflict, Sri
Lanka has succeeded in reducing malaria cases by 99.9 percent
since 1999 and is on track to eliminate the disease entirely by
2014. According to a paper published Thursday in the online,
open-access journal PLOS ONE, researchers from Sri Lanka's Anti-
Malaria Campaign and the UCSF Global Health Group examined
national malaria data and interviewed staff of the country's
malaria program to determine the factors behind Sri Lanka's
success in controlling malaria, despite a 26-year civil war that
ended in 2009. Typically, countries with conflict experience a
weakening of their malaria control programs and an increased
risk of outbreaks and epidemics, the researchers said. Chief
among its keys to success was the program's ability to be
flexible and adapt to changing conditions, the study found. For
instance, to protect hard-to-reach, displaced populations,
public health workers deployed mobile clinics equipped with
malaria diagnostics and antimalarial dr