He was addressing as chief guests at the inaugural session of second Cross Border Malaria Meeting arranged jointly by Federal Ministry of Health, NWFP government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Peshawar.
Experts from Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and the WHO are participating in the three-day meeting.
Participants would deliberate over chalking out a feasible action plan for effective implementation of rollback malaria programme in border areas of the three neighbouring countries to block regional transmission of malaria.
Welcoming the meeting, the minister termed the efforts as useful development towards evolving a collective strategy for launching a crusade against malaria in high disease border areas of the three countries.
Referring to the hazards of malaria, the minister said that malaria was not only one of the oldest enemy of mankind, and a public health issue of immense importance but also a tremendous global human and economic challenge, especially for the developing countries.
Highlighting efforts of the Pakistani government for controlling the disease, the minister said that malaria control programme was among the six priority programmes in the country and the government was allocating considerable resources for effective implementation of rollback malaria programme.
He said that steps had already been initiated to implement rollback malaria in 28 out of 43 high-risk districts/agencies of the country, while efforts were also underway to expand it to other areas in a phased manner.
Underlining the role of international agencies in controlling malaria, the minister said the EMRO and other organisations' assistance would be of pivotal value in strengthening regional co-operation for meeting the challenge to fight malaria.
Stressing the need of collective efforts at regional level for controlling communicable diseases, the provincial minister termed the meeting a unique opportunity for sharing experiences and expertise for the betterment of the region.