Malaria: Disease Control
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that malaria cases reported to the Malaria Reference Laboratory are also notified to a proper officer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Malaria is designated as a notifiable disease under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010, which places a statutory duty on all registered medical practitioners in England to notify a proper officer if they treat a patient they know, or suspect to be, infected with malaria. Further information on the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 is available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/659/contents
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) produces guidance for medical practitioners to support their compliance with these regulations, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notifiable-diseases-and-how-to-report-them
A malaria-specific report form is used by health professionals to refer suspected cases to the Malaria Reference Laboratory at the UKHSA. The UKHSA acts as the proper officer for receiving notifications of suspected and confirmed malaria cases in England. Equivalent notification regulations are in place in the devolved administrations, with further information on the notification regulations for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland available, respectively, at the following three links:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2008/5/schedule/1
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