Phnom Penh, April 25 : Cambodia is making great progress towards achieving its malaria-free target by the end of 2025, Prime Minister Hun Manet said.

In a message to mark the National Malaria Day on Friday, he said the Southeast Asian country reported only 355 malaria cases in 2024, a significant drop of 75 per cent compared to 2023.

The prime minister added that the kingdom had reported zero deaths from the disease since 2018 and no local Plasmodium Falciparum cases since 2024.

"Cambodia is on the verge of achieving a malaria-free goal by the end of 2025," Hun Manet said, urging all stakeholders to continue to support the country to achieve the target.

Huy Rekol, director of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, said malaria diagnostic tests and treatments have been highly effective in Cambodia, with Artesunate/Mefloquine, or ASMQ, being 100 per cent safe and efficacious against malaria, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This progress has put Cambodia in the category of successful countries in eliminating malaria," he told Xinhua.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that is typically found in forest and mountainous provinces, especially during rainy seasons.

To avoid being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes, Rekol advises people living in malaria-risk areas to sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets at all times.

Symptoms can be mild or life-threatening. Mild symptoms are fever, chills and headache. Severe symptoms include fatigue, confusion, seizures, and difficulty breathing.

Infants, children under 5 years, pregnant women and girls, travellers and people with HIV or AIDS are at higher risk of severe infection.

Malaria can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites and with medicines. Treatments can stop mild cases from getting worse.

Malaria mostly spreads to people through the bites of some infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Blood transfusion and contaminated needles may also transmit malaria.

The first symptoms may be mild, similar to many febrile illnesses, and difficulty to recognise as malaria.

Left untreated, P. falciparum malaria can progress to severe illness and death within 24 hours.

/IANS