The World Health Organisation, (WHO) has called on African leaders to keep malaria high on their agenda through allocation of more resources to health care.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, in a message to commemorate the 16th World Malaria Day, said that the WHO African Region alone accounted in 2021 for an estimated 234 million malaria cases and 593 000 deaths, thus bearing the heaviest burden of over 95 percent of cases and 96 percent of deaths globally.
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She said malaria which has been a stubborn public health enemy, only in 2021 killed 619, 000 people, of whom approximately 96 percent lived in Africa.
“It is 6-20 times more likely to spread in mosquito-prone environments than the Omicron variant of sars-cov-2,” “Our Region, therefore, continues to be hardest hit by this deadly disease partly because too many people do not have access to preventive and curative interventions. Nearly 30% of the population in most African countries cannot access essential health services, and most people face unacceptably high expenditures on health care’’. Moeti Said.
Dr Moeti noted that in terms of reduction in malaria incidence, eight countries are on track to meet the 2025 Global Technical Strategy target. The countries are Cabo Verde, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
“But 15 countries achieved insufficient reduction while 20 have witnessed stagnation or increase in cases. Ten countries saw increases in malaria deaths. The pace of progress must be accelerated if we want to achieve the set targets for 2025 and 2030,” Moeti said.
She said that the disease was once endemic across most of the world, sweeping through the Americas in the 1600s and reaching as far north as the Arctic coast and east as Japan.
’’But we can now save millions of lives each year from sickness and death caused by malaria following novel progress toward the disease’s elimination. Today marks the 16th World Malaria Day and an appropriate time for us to take stock of malaria’s devastating impact on people’s lives and economic development in this Region. Concerted efforts yield positive results. In 2021, because of the joint actions by malaria affected countries and partners, malaria deaths decreased compared to 2020 despite the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. That effort is echoed in this year’s theme: ‘Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement’’. Moeti stressed.
Progress
The WHO African Regional Director also said a solid national level commitment was demonstrated despite the pandemic and led to many successes.
’’About 75% of the planned 171 million insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) were distributed. The seasonal malaria preventive treatment was further expanded, reaching nearly 45 million children in 15 African countries, a significant increase from 33.4 million in 2020, while malaria testing and treatment services were maintained. More than 1.6 billion malaria cases and 11 million malaria deaths were averted in the WHO African Region from 2000-2021.
“The first malaria vaccine recommended by WHO to prevent malaria in children (also known as RTS,S) is saving lives. In Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, where nearly 1.5 million children have received the vaccine through a WHO-coordinated pilot programme, there is a substantial decrease in hospitalizations for severe malaria and a drop in child deaths, at least 28 countries in Africa have expressed interest in introducing the vaccine, with some additional countries to start in early 2024’’. Moeti added.
Moeti said that the unprecedented demand for the first malaria vaccine is considered an opportunity to bring children back to clinics to catch up on missed vaccines and child health interventions including reinforcing the need for children to sleep under ITNs every night. It is critically important to deliver this vaccine to children at risk.
“While congratulating our Member States and development partners for achievements over the last year, we are greatly concerned that malaria deaths remain unacceptably high, and cases have continued to increase since 2015.” Moeti added.
Implementation
Moeti said WHO will prioritise this segment as part of the 2023 campaign, and the critical importance of reaching marginalized populations with the available tools and strategies to reduce transmission for present and future gains.
’’Malaria programmes should be decentralized to the district and community levels where health systems are closest to the affected populations. We must empower frontline health workers and communities to participate fully in identifying key barriers in accessing services, ensure effective implementation of malaria control strategies and hold their leaders accountable for health outcomes, World Malaria Day gives us an opportunity to renew political commitments and bolster investments in malaria prevention and control.”
Dr Moeti therefore called on each Member State to redouble its commitment to implement an ambitious and innovative acceleration plan to rapidly reduce the burden of malaria and save the lives of its populations.
