Sri Lanka is the latest country to be declared malaria free by the WHO.
How did they do it?
According to the New York Times:
In 2000, outside the rebel-controlled areas in the northeast, malaria cases began dropping as the government, with donor help, deployed a mix of indoor spraying, bed nets, rapid diagnostic kits and medicines that combined artemisinin, an effective treatment, with other drugs.
The government also screened blood samples drawn — for any reason — in public clinics and hospitals for malaria infection, and officials established a nationwide electronic case-reporting system.
In war-torn areas, the disease retreated more slowly, although the Tigers often cooperated with malaria-control teams because their villages and fighters also suffered.
Nonetheless, in a population of 20 million, it took years to get rid of the last few hundred annual cases. Most were soldiers and itinerant laborers, often from India, who worked in remote slash-and-burn farming areas and in logging and gem-mining camps.
Someone tell African policymakers that bed nets and behavior change are not enough.
Every other region of the world appears to be willing and able to combine vector (mosquito) control with other strategies of containing malaria with success (and enthusiastic donor support). But for some reason mosquito control is still lagging in Africa, even in otherwise strong and stable states. In some instances this has been due to environmental concerns while in others it has been due to the misplaced priorities of public health officials, donors, development agencies, and academic researchers.
About 3.2 billion people – nearly half of the world’s population – are at risk of malaria. In 2015, there were roughly 214 million malaria cases and an estimated 438 000 malaria deaths. Increased prevention and control measures have led to a 60% reduction in malaria mortality rates globally since 2000. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2015, the region was home to 89% of malaria cases and 91% of malaria deaths.
214 million malaria cases amount to lots and lots of lost productivity. Also, losing one Miami every year in deaths is simply unacceptable.
kenopalo.com 
Sri Lanka has a long history of fighting malaria. This is not the first time the island country has achieved this status, and they must remain vigilant to maintain it. Nonetheless, the strategy for an island does not transfer to a continent. But most importantly it is not policy alone, but attitudes and behaviors regarding resource management at all levels. Those attitudes and behaviors are driven by poverty in a vicious cycle. In summary focus on social economic development along with disease control and adjust targets for health for economic growth.
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Hi Ken, I wrote a response to this post a while ago. I totally agree with the first commenter–I just expand more here: https://www.ngozierondu.com/blog/2017/2/24/simple-challengeformalaria
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