Authors
S Saita3; J Boondam1; L J White2; D M Parker4; W Pan-ngum3; 1 Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; 2 Mahidol - Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand; 3 Mahidol University, Thailand; 4 Shoklo Malaria Research Unit, Thailand Discussion
In order to achieve the target to completely eliminate Plasmodium falciparum malaria from the world by 2030, global financing for malaria control has been increased from an estimated US$ 960 million in 2005 to US$ 2.5 billion in 2014. The success was evident when global malaria incidence and mortality have significantly decreased in the past decade and many countries are now moving toward malaria elimination. In Thailand, malaria cases are highly seasonal and mostly clustered along international borders. Malaria case numbers along the Thai-Myanmar border are consistently high, accounting for almost half of all cases. To study the malaria situation in the region, we focus on three main questions i) What are the levels of malaria transmission in Mae Hong Son and Tak, two provinces with different cross-border settings between Thai and Myanmar. ii) How are they different in term of population demographics and movement, vector characteristics, environment and existing malaria control programmes. iii) How population movement influences malaria transmission or malaria reemergence in these settings and what are potential recommendations to maintain free-malaria status during the post-elimination phase. We plan to take up a multidisciplinary approach using field surveys to collect population movement data and effectiveness of current interventions and retrieve secondary data of malaria, populations and environmental determinants. Statistical and mathematical modelling will be applied to identify geographically varying predictors, assess impacts of population movement on malaria incidence and work out optimal strategies for preventing the resurgence of indigenous cases after elimination. As an ongoing project, the study plan and some primary observations will be presented. 
