Stratification of malaria incidence in Papua New Guinea (2011–2019): Contribution towards a sub-national control policy

Malaria risk in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is highly heterogeneous, between and within geographical regions, which is operationally challenging for control. To enhance targeting of malaria interventions in PNG, we investigated risk factors and stratified malaria incidence at the level of health facility catchment areas. Catchment areas and populations of 808 health facilities were delineated using a travel-time accessibility approach and linked to reported malaria cases (2011–2019). Zonal statistics tools were used to calculate average altitude and air temperature in catchment areas before they were spatially joined with incidence rates. In addition, empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) was employed to interpolate incidence risk strata across PNG. Malaria annual incidence rates are, on average, 186.3 per 1000 population in catchment areas up to 600 m, dropped to 98.8 at (800–1400) m, and to 24.1 cases above 1400 m altitude. In areas above the two altitudinal thresholds 600m and 1400m, the average annual temperature drops below 22°C and 17°C, respectively. EBK models show very low- to low-risk strata (<100 cases per 1000) in the Highlands, National Capital District and Bougainville. In contrast, patches of high-risk (>200 per 1000) strata are modelled mainly in Momase and Islands Regions. Besides, strata with moderate risk (100–200) predominate throughout the coastal areas. While 35.7% of the PNG population (estimated 3.33 million in 2019) lives in places at high or moderate risk of malaria, 52.2% (estimated 4.88 million) resides in very low-risk areas. In five provinces, relatively large proportions of populations (> 50%) inhabit high-risk areas: New Ireland, East and West New Britain, Sandaun and Milne Bay. Incidence maps show a contrast in malaria risk between coastal and inland areas influenced by altitude. However, the risk is highly variable in low-lying areas. Malaria interventions should be guided by sub-national risk levels in PNG.