Mapping special areas of the Brazilian National Malaria Control Program in the Amazon region: a territorial-based approach to surveillance.

BACKGROUND

The malaria control strategy of the Brazilian Ministry of Health involves the classification of transmission contexts into special areas based on the distinct determinants of malaria in each location.

OBJECTIVE

To search, find, organise, and map data about special areas using Brazilian databases and show their distribution among the states of the Brazilian Amazon.

METHODS

A search related to the socioenvironmental determinants of malaria was conducted in Brazilian databases using the special areas of the Ministry of Health as a reference. Data were compiled by states in the Brazilian Amazon.

FINDINGS

Indigenous areas occupy a significant portion of the Amazon territory and exhibit high incidence rates of malaria. Rural settlements also cover large areas of the Amazon, and in some states, more than 10% of malaria cases are associated with this typology. Legal and illegal mining areas, despite occupying small portions of the Amazon territory, contribute to the malaria caseload. In contrast, urban areas cover smaller regions, with low incidence rates.

MAIN CONCLUSIONS

Despite the progress represented by the typological structure of special areas by the Ministry of Health's, our findings reveal limitations related to them because of their complexities and emphasise the need to further substratify these areas to devise control strategies more adapted to them.