A total of 63,039 malaria cases were recorded in the first eleven months of 2012, down 35 percent from 96,747 cases a year earlier, an official report said Friday.

The disease killed 40 people, a 43 percent drop from 70 at the same period last year, according to the report of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control.

Dr. Char Meng Chuor, director of the center, attributed the decrease to the government efforts to promote the awareness of the public and distribute mosquito nets to the vulnerable groups of people.

He blamed private treatment for the death of patients, who turned to state-owned health services only when their cases got serious, but it was too late to be cured.

"Based on the figures, we strongly believe that the country will be able to eradicate the death from malaria by 2015," he said.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease. In Cambodia, the disease is often found in the rainy season and mostly happens in border provinces and forest and mountainous provinces.

The disease claimed 98 lives in 2011.