Malaria cases in North Korea have fallen for the fourth year in a row, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its World Malaria Report 2017 last week.

The number of “presumed and confirmed” malaria-afflicted North Koreans dropped to 5113 in 2016 by around 31%, compared to 7407 in 2015, the report said.

The number of malaria cases in the North stood at 15,673 and 11,212 in 2013 and 2014 respectively, according to the report.

1.3 million people are affected by malaria in what the WHO deems the South – East Asia region, which includes the DPRK, Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan,