National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP) of the Philippines: 2023 – 2028

The current Malaria Transition, Elimination and Sustainability Plan (MTESP) 2023 to 2028 is a major shift from the previous plan which is a national strategic plan. The MTESP 2023-2028 will now be a sub-plan under the Multi-Disease Plan. It espouses an approach which will cover all the provinces of the country from both sides of the elimination spectrum. This direction is developed to simplify the approaches and make program directions and activities open to integration with other programs while ensuring that the original objective of the elimination program is reiterated and implemented as planned.

Goal and Objectives: To achieve the MTESP 2023-2028 goal, all 82 provinces of the country should be declared malaria-free by 2030. This will be accomplished through the Plan’s three objectives:

1. Reduce malaria in Palawan by zero by 2026;
2. Declare 81 provinces malaria-free by 2027 and Palawan malaria-free by 2029; and
3. Sustain malaria-free status; prevent re-establishment of malaria transmission in 82 provinces.

Impact Targets In Palawan (control province), program performance will be assessed based on the number of: confirmed indigenous malaria cases and deaths; municipalities and barangays with active transmission; and barangays with non-residual transmission. In the 15 elimination provinces, program performance in terms of number of provinces with zero indigenous cases will be assessed. Also, the number of provinces declared malaria-free will be assessed.

The four (4) strategic pillars are aligned with the objective of the FOURmula One Plus for Health and WHO strategies.

• Strategic Pillar 1: Universal Access to Services: Ensure universal access to reliable diagnosis, highly effective and appropriate treatment and preventive measures.
• Strategic Pillar 2: Governance and Leadership: Strengthen the capacity at all levels to manage and implement Malaria interventions in all provinces.
• Strategic Pillar 3: Financing: Secure government and non-government financing to sustain Malaria elimination efforts at all levels in all provinces.
• Strategic Pillar 4: Quality Assurance of Services: Ensure availability of quality Malaria services and timely detection of infection as well as response and information and evidence to guide Malaria elimination in all provinces.