The Reach Project is a research initiative based in the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. They examine the successful delivery of social services to those who are hardest to reach.
After enduring centuries of devastating malaria epidemics, Sri Lanka was certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization in 2016. It is one of two tropical nations to eliminate malaria (the other is the Maldives). A malaria epidemic arose during the country’s civil war during the 1980s and 1990s, affecting more than 600,000 people. This case study attempts to answer these critical questions: how did the country eliminate malaria over a relatively short period of time, especially given the severity of the epidemic during the war? What can the world learn from the elimination of malaria in Sri Lanka?
