Maputo, 30 Jan (AIM) - 1.2 million children aged between three and 59 months in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula will be covered by the seasonal malaria prevention campaign during the current rainy season.

The initiative was launched by the Minister of Health, Armindo Tiago, in the Administrative Post of Anchilo.

During the campaign, which will take place door-to-door, children will take two drugs orally, namely: sulfadioxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine, for three days.

"Even if the children covered have contact with the mosquito that carries malaria, they will not run the risk of contracting the disease", the minister said, adding that in the first phase of this type of prevention, in 2020, the results achieved were encouraging.

The State Secretary for Nampula Province, Jaime Neto, for his part, said that malaria prevention in his province has covered 47 per cent of the population, one of the highest rates in the country.

In 2022, Nampula Province recorded an increase of malaria cases. About three million cases were diagnosed, compared to 2.6 million in 2021. However, the number of deaths from malaria in the province fell from 67 in 2021 to 58 in 2022.