Papua New Guinea (PNG), located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, is one of these hot places. The island’s high heat and humidity, combined with around 40% of the population living below the poverty line, has left the country extremely vulnerable to the life-threatening disease of malaria. In 2024, PNG accounted for 90% of reported cases in the Western Pacific Region, despite having a population of around 10 million.

Over the past 25 years, PNG has reduced its national malaria death rate by 92%, from 13 to 1 death per 100,000 people, according to figures the country’s Electronic National Health Information System recorded. This is part of the country’s effort to embrace digital health, pairing electronic information systems and devices to more efficiently track malaria cases. PNG has achieved this malaria reduction despite not having a routine malaria vaccine.

Testing and Treatment

Papua New Guinea introduced Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT) in 2012, after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended it. RDTs, such as lateral flow immunoassays, provide quick (around 15 to 30 minutes), affordable and easily accessible diagnoses of disease. Research conducted in the United Kingdom (U.K.) found RDT sensitivity to be 93.6% when detecting malaria infection due to any Plasmodium species, microscopic infectious parasites that cause malaria.

The use of RDTs worldwide has steadily increased, with national malaria programs distributing 345 million in 2022. In Morobe Province, provincial health teams distributed RDTs, medicines and insecticide-treated nets to 60 health facilities across five districts in 2025, with home management of malaria available at 12 of those facilities.

Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACT) work by combining a derivative of artemisinin, a medicine that has treated malaria for more than 20 years, with a partner drug. Between 2010 and 2023, manufacturers delivered an estimated 3 billion prequalified ACT treatment courses globally to the public sectors of malaria-endemic countries, out of 4.5 billion total courses manufactured. WHO data has shown ACT to provide an overall efficacy rate of more than 95%.

Government Focus

PNG’s National Malaria Strategic Plan between 2021 and 2025 focused on improving diagnosis and treatment, as well as increasing community engagement. PNG’s home-based management of malaria program trained Community Malaria Volunteers (CMVs), which enabled testing and treatment within remote villages. Evaluations in remote provinces of PNG, such as Sandaun, revealed that around nine in 10 of the population now seek help from CMVs at the first sign of fever.

The Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance, consisting of 22 governments, formed in 2013 with the aim of eliminating malaria in the region by 2030. In 2025, the governments of Indonesia and PNG signed a “major milestone” Joint Action Plan, spanning the course of five years (2025 to 2030). With Indonesia achieving malaria-free status in nearly 85% of its population, the nations will share resources, data, and communications regarding the disease. Practically, this will include introducing targeted vector control approaches and standardized laboratory networks to enhance public health services and surveillance.

Humanitarian Aid

A host of international organizations have also assisted PNG in their ongoing fight against malaria.

• Wantok Support Charity – A U.K.-based charity that has improved the lives of the people of PNG for more than 14 years through investing in education and healthcare projects. In 2024, they donated more than £1,000 to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), allowing them to obtain jet fuel during a shortage, which they used to provide medical care and emergency relief in PNG. This donation allowed MAF to continue providing a “valuable lifeline” to the people of PNG.
• Mission Aviation Fellowship – The world’s largest humanitarian air operator has used light aircraft to provide support to PNG for more than 75 years. In February 2023, MAF delivered 41 bales of mosquito nets to the rural community of Lapalama. Through a partnership with Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM), the two organizations have reached 380 isolated communities, delivering around 28,000 mosquito nets in 2022. Londe George, a worker at Lapalama Health Centre, describes the relief of being able to sleep protected from malaria and thanks MAF for “not forgetting us.”
• Rotarians Against Malaria – The organization has collaborated with the Ministry of Health and stakeholders, training 1,848 CMVs to provide malaria services in remote and high-risk areas. It has implemented the program in 12 of the 22 province-led areas, with plans to expand it.

Work to be Done

Malaria mortality remains a formidable prospect, with PNG continuing to carry a disproportionate burden in the region. The expansion of malaria transmission due to increased temperature changes, as well as increasing evidence of partial artemisinin resistance in malaria treatment, presents PNG with a substantial obstacle.

Further government commitment of around $3.8 million toward malaria control, as well as continued funding from organizations such as the Global Fund, can prevent these obstacles from slowing PNG’s mission against malaria. PNG is learning lessons from previous failures, and with these lessons comes hope — regionwide hope for a future that will see the end of this disease.

– William Snow

William is based in Chepstow, Wales and focuses on Good News and Technology for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr