Once regarded as a relatively benign infection, Plasmodium vivax is now acknowledged to be an important public health threat, capable of causing life-threatening disease complications, debilitating recurrent infections, miscarriage and chronic infections. Compared with P. falciparum, P. vivax exhibits far more extensive genetic diversity, and has numerous adaptive biological mechanisms, such as the ability to develop dormant liver stages (hypnozoites) and the emergence of transmissible blood stages (gametocytes) before clinical symptoms. At APMEN’s inaugural meeting in 2009, Plasmodium vivax infections were identified as a common threat to malaria control across the region. The APMEN Vivax Working Group (VxWG) was established to specifically address this issue.