Georgia gains WHO malaria-free certification
The January 2025 recognition followed renewed prevention efforts and years without indigenous transmission.
News report
Georgia was certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization on January 23, 2025. The recognition followed decades of control and prevention, including a renewed effort after malaria returned following an earlier period without local transmission.
WHO’s account records the last indigenous case in 2009. It also describes a resurgence that reached 474 reported cases in 2002, after the country had previously remained malaria-free for 25 years. That history explains why maintaining elimination requires more than reaching a low annual case count.
Georgia joined the 2005 Tashkent Declaration with other countries in the region and intensified prevention, diagnosis and treatment. WHO’s certification assessment in 2024 identified an adequately resourced health system, public-private cooperation and a commitment to maintaining the result.
Malaria-free certification requires convincing evidence that indigenous transmission has been interrupted nationally for at least three consecutive years. Imported infections can still occur, and health services need to recognize them and prevent local onward transmission. The country’s recognition is therefore different from a claim that malaria has been eradicated worldwide.
WHO’s epidemiological record documented Georgia’s certification alongside Egypt’s earlier milestone. Together, the records show the importance of tracking the date and scope of an elimination claim. Georgia’s January 2025 decision recognizes a sustained national outcome, with surveillance and access to care remaining part of the work needed to protect it.
