By
Kemo Cham
APA-Freetown
(Sierra Leone) Sierra Leone’s Health Ministry officials
have called for increased investment to tackle Malaria which ranks as the
largest single killer disease in the country.
On World Malaria Day, officials of the National
Malaria Control Program (NMCP) said more investment is needed to boost the
country’s Malaria response strategy to sustain gains made over the years and
prevent a resurgence of cases.
Malaria, a life-threatening disease,
is caused by a parasite which is transmitted through the bite of an infected
female Anopheles mosquito. The disease is preventable and curable, once quickly
treated.
WHO figures show that there were an estimated
216 million cases of malaria in 91 countries in 2016, representing an increase
of 5 million cases compared to the previous year. Some 445, 000 people died of
the disease in 2016, 90 percent of whom were said to be in the WHO African
Region.
Sierra
Leone has a national Malaria prevalence rate of 40 percent, ranked among the
highest in the world. According to figures from the Ministry of Health, the
country records over a million Malaria related cases yearly.
“Malaria remains the main cause of deaths for
children and it accounts for the highest outpatient cases,” Dr Juana Smith,
Manager of the NMCP, said at the launch of the world Malaria Day in Freetown on
Wednesday. Dr Smith, in a power point presentation, highlighted the
geographical trend of the disease, revealing that the northern part of the
country has the highest prevalence at 51, followed by the southern and eastern
regional with a prevalence rate of 40 percent each and then the western region
(Freetown and environs) with 21 percent prevalence rate.
Among the factors identified for the continued prevalence
of the disease especially in the north is the low level of bed net usage. This
is partly due to attitude of the people, said Dr Smith.
The presentation also highlighted the correlation
between Malaria and poverty. It shows that cases tend to be higher in parts of
the country with the lower quantile of poverty.
This, said Dr Smith, shows that Malaria is not just
a health issues, but also concerns social and economic issues like proper
housing, hence the call on the private sector to play a role in rolling back
Malaria.
The World Malaria Day was dedicated by the World
Health Organisation and it serves as remembrance of progress and commitments to
ensure global targets to eliminate the disease are met. This year’s
commemoration is being held on the theme: “Ready to beat Malaria.’ According to
WHO, the theme
underscores the collective energy and commitment of the global malaria
community in uniting around the common goal of a world free of the sickness. It
also highlights the remarkable progress achieved in tackling it, while calling
out for more action against the worrying trends as captured in the 2017 World
malaria report:
According to that report, while
progress has been registered, it has stalled. It notes that the current pace is
insufficient to achieve the 2020 targets of reducing Malaria case incidence and
death rates.
“Countries
with ongoing transmission are increasingly falling into one of two categories:
those moving towards elimination and those with a high burden of the disease
that have reported significant increases in malaria cases,” the world health
agency says.
KC/APA
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