Port Sudan, Nov 5 (IANS): Sudanese Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said that Sudan records between two and three million malaria cases annually.

"Sudan records the highest rate of malaria infection in the Eastern Mediterranean Region," Ibrahim said on Monday at a press conference in Gedaref, the capital city of Gedaref State in Sudan.

"Sudan also records the highest malaria death rate in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, accounting for 50 per cent of the total deaths," he noted, referring to the interventions undertaken by the ministry to reduce the malaria death rate, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Monday, the Sudanese Health Ministry launched the integration of the malaria vaccine into routine childhood vaccinations, covering Gedaref State and Blue Nile State in Sudan.

"We have started introducing the malaria vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation in the two states, to be followed by the rest of the high-risk states next year," the minister said.