Cross-border initiative launched against malaria

DESPITE increased investments to combat malaria, the disease remains a huge challenge in Africa, Lesotho’s Health Minister Dr Matlahealo Mhooko said on Friday when he launched a SADC cross-border initiative against malaria at Ondangwa.

Dr Mhooko, who is the chairman of the Committee of SADC Ministers of Health, said the initiative by Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe was based on the success of a similar malaria-control programme between South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. That programme has led to a 90 per cent reduction in the number of malaria cases reported in the South African and Swaziland districts where it was implemented, and a 70 per cent reduction in the Mozambican districts, he said.Dr Mhooko said there had been increased investments and political commitment from governments and international development partners since the Abuja Declaration of 2000, where African heads of state committed themselves to reducing malaria mortality by 50 per cent by the year 2010.He said the southern African region still faced serious challenges, as cited in the SADC progress report presented to the last African Union summit in Abuja in May this year.He said countries lacked the capacity and resources to control malaria among the most vulnerable groups, and the high cost of anti-malarial medicines was another problem.”Prompt access to effective treatment is essential.Importation of drug-resistant strains of malaria also contributes to treatment failure, hence the significance in understanding the role of migration in disease distribution,” he said.Eleven countries in the SADC region are continuing with Indoor Residual Spraying against mosquitoes – eight of them using the insecticide DDT, which is banned in most parts of the world.Malaria information and surveillance systems remained generally weak in some countries, Dr Mhooko said.”I hope, as we are rolling out the malaria cross-border initiative to the borders of Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, we will also be addressing this issue,” he added.That programme has led to a 90 per cent reduction in the number of malaria cases reported in the South African and Swaziland districts where it was implemented, and a 70 per cent reduction in the Mozambican districts, he said.Dr Mhooko said there had been increased investments and political commitment from governments and international development partners since the Abuja Declaration of 2000, where African heads of state committed themselves to reducing malaria mortality by 50 per cent by the year 2010.He said the southern African region still faced serious challenges, as cited in the SADC progress report presented to the last African Union summit in Abuja in May this year.He said countries lacked the capacity and resources to control malaria among the most vulnerable groups, and the high cost of anti-malarial medicines was another problem.”Prompt access to effective treatment is essential.Importation of drug-resistant strains of malaria also contributes to treatment failure, hence the significance in understanding the role of migration in disease distribution,” he said.Eleven countries in the SADC region are continuing with Indoor Residual Spraying against mosquitoes – eight of them using the insecticide DDT, which is banned in most parts of the world.Malaria information and surveillance systems remained generally weak in some countries, Dr Mhooko said.”I hope, as we are rolling out the malaria cross-border initiative to the borders of Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, we will also be addressing this issue,” he added.