Sylvia Mweetwa
26 April 2008
Ndola — MOSQUITOES are more than just an annoyance when they bite because they are carriers of the life-threatening malaria parasite, the plasmodium falciparum, which is injected in a person's bloodstream.
Nearly everyone in the subregion has suffered from malaria at some point, and the disease still accounts for more deaths than any other disease.
In Zambia, it is estimated that up to three million cases of malaria are reported every year and of these, at least 50,000 results in deaths.
While the disease could be regarded as a distant memory in some parts of the world, in the sub-Saharan Africa, it is a daily reality. It still kills close to one million African children every year, sickens millions and drains up to US$ 12 billion of resources from the economies of the already impoverished nations.
After years of being condemned to the back seat of the global disease burden agenda by HIV/AIDS, malaria is finally getting back in the limelight. Many organisations and countries are slowly getting to inject substantial resources into its fight.
Currently, the fight against malaria is being waged on many fronts. Campaigners are distributing bed nets, promoting indoor residual spraying and developing new medicines and insecticides.
Zambia yesterday hosted the first ever Malaria Day which sought to highlight the seriousness of the disease that for a long time did not receive much attention or support.
Health Minister, Brian Chituwo described the commemorations that were held in the tourism capital, Livingstone, as an honour for Zambia. The commemorations drew attention from the outside world, especially the donor community with a common goal of working towards finding a lasting solution to malaria.
Dr Chituwo stressed the importance of wider human resource base if the fight against malaria was to succeed. "It is really an honour for Zambia to host the Malaria Day celebrations," he said in commenting on the commemorations held under the theme: 'Malaria without borders'.
The main activities surrounding the celebrations included sensitisation programmes, concerts, drama shows and distribution of treated mosquito nets.
Zambia is party to several international instruments on malaria, including the Abuja Malaria targets, and the Millennium Development Goal number six on combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
According to Dr Chituwo, Zambia is committed to the global fight for the elimination of malaria, which is why the country has upheld the global targets.
Part of the measures the country is currently employing to minimise the control of malaria include conducting antimalarial sprays in prone areas, distribution of treated mosquito nets to pregnant mothers and children who are the most hit, and using the new frontline drugs in the treatment of the disease.
The ministry of Health has also embarked on sensitation programmes in various parts of Zambia to educate the public on the importance of prevention and the dangers of malaria. But the fight requires the involvement of every person if Zambia is to be free of malaria.
Last year, health ministers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) developed a draft SADC elimination framework to provide guidance for scaling-up efforts against malaria.
On the other hand, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), a global programme, has committed itself to accelerating the development of safe, effective and affordable malaria vaccines for children under the age of five and pregnant women in the sub-Sahara region.
The PATH programme was established in 1999 through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and it seeks to identify potentially promising vaccine candidates and systematically moves them through the development process.
With all such efforts ongoing, it is hoped that the annoyance caused by mosquitoes will some day become a thing of the past.
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