**8. Regional artemisinin resistance initiative (RAI)**

The six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China (Yunnan Province), are part of a larger community, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Despite political pledges to fight artemisinin resistance and eliminate malaria, coordination remains hampered by deep political, economic and geographical gaps. The WHO strategic plans to counter artemisinin resistance failed to prevent its spread to the entire sub-region. In 2013, the Global Fund launched the Regional Artemisininresistance Initiative to provide financial support to the five countries affected by this new treat. This initiative came in addition to the contributions of the Global Fund to the Malaria National Program and contributed to the decrease in malaria-related mortality and morbidity in the region. However, these efforts have been compromised by the fragmentation in the public health policies, the disparities in the infrastructures and human resources as well as corruption. In terms of treatment policies, all GMS countries had already adopted ACTs long before the emergence of resistance, but poor monitoring in some countries meant that monotherapies and sub-standard or counterfeit drugs continued to circulate until recently. The relative absence of entomological data in some parts of SEA explains that there is no coherent strategy for containment of local disease vectors. Large budgets continue to be spent on long-lasting impregnated nets (LLINs) despite the absence of evidence of their effectiveness.
