Egypt joined the list of countries certified as malaria-free on Sunday, with the World Health Organization calling the achievement "truly historic" and the culmination of nearly a century of work to stamp out the disease.
"Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilisation itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history and not its future," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
"This certification of Egypt as malaria-free is truly historic, and a testament to the commitment of the people and government of Egypt to rid themselves of this ancient scourge."
Globally, 44 countries and one territory have now been certified as malaria-free.
Certification is granted by the WHO when a country has proven that the chain of indigenous malaria transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes has been interrupted nationwide for at least the previous three consecutive years.
A country must also demonstrate the ability to prevent the re-establishment of transmission.
Malaria kills more than 600,000 people every year, 95 percent of them in Africa, according to the WHO.
Full List of countries certified as malaria-free
Algeria 2019
Cabo Verde 2024
Egypt 2024
Mauritius 1973
Jordan 2012
Egypt 2024
Morocco 2010
United Arab Emirates 2007
Armenia 2011
Azerbaijan 2023
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1973
Bulgaria 1965
Croatia 1973
Cyprus 1967
La Réunion (France) 1979
Hungary 1964
Italy 1970
Kyrgyzstan 2016
Montenegro 1973
Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 1970
Poland 1967
Portugal 1973
Republic of North Macedonia 1973
Romania 1967
Serbia 1973
Slovakia 1963
Slovenia 1973
Spain 1964
Sweden 1963
Turkmenistan 2010
Uzbekistan 2018
Argentina 2019
Belize 2023
Cuba 1973
Dominica 1966
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El Salvador 2021
Grenada 1962
Jamaica 1966
Paraguay 2018
Saint Lucia 1962
Trinidad and Tobago 1965
United States of America 1970
Maldives 2015
Sri Lanka 2016
Australia 1981
Brunei Darussalam 1987
China 2021
Singapore 1982
