Egypt was certified as malaria-free on Sunday, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) 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 per cent of them in Africa, according to the WHO. There were 249 million recorded malaria cases worldwide in 2022.

Spread by mosquitoes, malaria is mostly found in tropical countries. The infection is caused by a parasite.

“Receiving the malaria elimination certificate today is not the end of the journey but the beginning of a new phase,” said Egypt’s Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.

“We must now work tirelessly and vigilantly to sustain our achievement through maintaining the highest standards for surveillance, diagnosis and treatment.”

The WHO said early efforts to reduce human-mosquito contact in Egypt began in the 1920s when it banned the cultivation of rice and agricultural crops near homes. By 1942, cases in Egypt had spiked to more than three million as a result of population displacement during World War II.

The Aswan Dam, built in the 1960s, created new malaria risks as standing water produced breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

But by 2001, Egypt had malaria “firmly under control”, the WHO said.

Nigeria accounts for more than a quarter of all malaria deaths annually, ahead of the DR Congo, Uganda and Mozambique.