Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the recent rise in malaria cases in Delhi, India; and what support her Department is providing to tackle malaria in (a) India and (b) Asia.

The World Health Organisation reports that there have been 592 malaria cases detected in Delhi so far this year. The municipal corporations in Delhi are responding. The WHO is closely monitoring the situation and providing advice through its Regional and Country Offices.

DFID provides significant support to malaria control in India and Asia through our leading contribution to the Global Fund. Since 2002 the Global Fund has invested $1.9 billion in India for malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB. This support has included the provision of 3.71 million insecticide treated bed nets to prevent the transmission of malaria. The Global Fund also supports many countries in Asia, including, for example, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. In addition DFID has specific malaria programming to improve the quality of care and address the problem of sub-standard medication in Burma; and programmes in the Greater Mekong sub-region to tackle drug resistant malaria. DFID also supports research into new malaria drugs, and broader support to countries’ health systems to enable better identification and treatment of people affected by malaria.