Cambodian scientist Yeang Chheang has spent six decades fighting malaria — even in the Khmer Rouge labor camp where his wife and baby died — and stands tantalizingly close to fulfilling his life's work.

The kingdom is stepping up a "last mile" push to wipe out the mosquito-borne disease, focusing on hard-to-reach communities in remote, forested or mountainous areas.

From 170,000 cases and 865 deaths from malaria in 1997, only 355 cases were recorded last year — and not a single fatality has been reported since 2018.