Malaria remains significant public health development challenge – WHO

Deborah Onyofufeke

The World Health Organisation, WHO has said that Malaria remains a significant public health and development challenge as a result of its devastating impact on families, communities, and societal development, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa

The World Health Organisation, WHO, Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said this in her World Malaria Day, 2022, message, with the theme “Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives”

She noted that it is an occasion to renew political commitment and encourage continued investment in malaria prevention and control. With this, she called on countries and communities affected by malaria, to work closely with development partners to advance affected countries along the road to elimination, while contributing to the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr. Moeti stated that this year’s theme goes with her drive to scale up innovation in the fight against malaria. Excited with the progress made so far, she added that despite COVID-19, last year recorded a breakthrough in the fight against malaria with the use of the first malaria vaccine RTS.

Dr. Moeti added that as much as the vaccine introduction was a breakthrough in the age-long fight against malaria, it was only available in a limited quantity

“Malaria remains a significant public health and development challenges. In the last year, about 95% of the estimated 228 million cases occurred in the WHO/AFRO Region, along with 602 020 reported deaths. Six of our countries, the worst impacted by malaria in the Region, are reported to have accounted for up to 55% of cases globally, and 50% of these deaths.

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“Despite some slowing of progress to reduce malaria cases and deaths, and the disruptions to health services caused by COVID-19, we are still much further ahead than we were in 2000.

“This year’s theme, “Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives”, aligns with my call to urgently scale up innovation and the deployment of new tools in the fight against malaria, while advocating for equitable access to malaria prevention and treatment, within the context of building health system resilience.

“The past year has seen significant breakthroughs in malaria prevention and control, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Landmark recommendations on the use of the first vaccine against malaria – RTS, S – were released by the World Health Organization late last year. This vaccine will be used to prevent malaria among children aged six months to five years, who live in moderate- to high-transmission settings.

“While this is a ground-breaking advance in the development of new tools to fight this disease, with the potential to save millions of lives, supplies are currently limited. As such, it is important to ensure that the available doses are utilized for maximum impact while ensuring the continued availability of other preventive measures to those most at risk”.

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Dr Moeti emphasized that she and the WHO Regional Office in Africa, remain fully committed to the fight against malaria while she indicated hope that malaria can be overcome with close collaboration with governments, partners, and communities.

She added that the ultimate goal is to reduce the number of deaths caused by malaria

“The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of people catching and dying from malaria. This requires a focus on research and on leveraging available evidence to ensure that our targeted interventions are an efficient use of resources, which produce measurable results.

“We also need to work on drug and insecticide resistance, as well as focus on new strains of malaria arising in the Region, which are more difficult to detect and treat.

“Malaria is, however, about much more than medical and technological interventions. Malaria affects households and communities, and these communities need to be empowered to play an active role in the fight against this disease. As WHO in Africa, we recognize that a whole-of-society approach requires us to listen to, and learn from, those who are worst impacted. Together, we can accelerate our efforts to achieve a malaria-free Africa” Dr. Moeti said

World Malaria Day is marked annually on 25 April