The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Alieu Ceesay
28 April 2009
As the world commemorates World Malaria Day, the UNICEF country representative to The Gambia has added her voice to growing calls, asking for urgent actions to halve the occurrences of the number one killer disease on the continent of Africa by 2010, as outlined in the Abuja Declaration.
This call is part of Min Whee Kang's statement on the day. World Malaria Day is celebrated on 25th April 2009. Malaria remains a burden on many health budgets across the world, especially in high transmission endemic countries in Africa. Over one million people die every year from this disease with the highest incidences being among children under five. "For us at UNICEF, this is unacceptable," stated UNICEF executive director, Ann M Veneman.
Malaria is a preventable disease that can easily be managed by increasing the use of long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets and other proven interventions through an integrated community-based approach to programming. In The Gambia, the National Malaria Strategic Plan identifies six key strategies to reduce the malaria burden, thus subsequently reducing morbidity and mortality especially among children under five and pregnant women.
Key among these strategies are timely initiation of treatment with an effective anti-malarial drug, prevention of malaria in pregnancy through the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN), the provision of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in Pregnancy (IPTP) and vector control. Through additional funding from the Global Fund, The Gambia has now appreciably scaled up these interventions.
These efforts are now paying dividend as evident in a study conducted by Ceesay et al and reported in the Lancet publication, indicating 85% and 100% reduction in morbidity and mortality due to malaria. This is a tremendous achievement for a country which is malaria endemic, which further demonstrates that with the application of the right strategies, malaria can be prevented.
With less than 24 months to go, Ms Kang makes a clarion call to all partners: "The countdown to the count out has begun. With increasing partnership and funds as well as scaling up effective interventions, there are indications that we can attain universal coverage in the Gambia by 2010. We need to act and the time is now".
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