…as the world commemorates World Malaria Day on April 25
Melinda Kusemachibi
Chiredzi District, one of the most malaria prone areas in Zimbabwe is geared up for the fight against the spread of the vector-born disease, District Medical Officer Dr Brian Dhlandlara has confirmed.
Dr Dhlandlara said the district has enough infrastructure in place to fend off the spread of malaria.
“We are using innovations approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight malaria for example the use of long lasting insecticide treatment mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying, larviciding, house screening which we are currently implementing,” added Dr Dhlandlara.
He said that current statistics shows a steady decline in number of malaria cases being recorded.
“Figures show a steady decline though more work still needs to be done for us to achieve zero malaria deaths. There is community engagement to increase and enhance community participation in malaria prevention through community leaders and health workers in our district,” Dr Dhlandlara said.
He also said malaria has been a burden to the whole district and fight against the disease should start at community level.
“The whole district has a high burden of malaria but mostly people who stay along water bodies and close to irrigated sugar cane farms are on high risk. Fight against malaria starts at community level where we have community health workers who are trained to test and treat malaria. All our primary health facilities (rural clinics) also test and treat malaria. Complicated cases are referred and treated at our secondary facilities in the district and our infrastructure is adequate,” he added.
2022 World Malaria Day is to be commemorated on April 25, 2022 under the theme ‘harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives’ as WHO wants to draw attention to the critical role innovation plays in helping achieve global malaria elimination goals.
In recent years cases of malaria have been high especially in the low veld areas such as Chiredzi.
Malaria one of the world’s oldest killer diseases continues to plague large parts of the globe despite decades of efforts to wipe it out.
This is a disease that still result in the death of a child every two minutes, despite effective treatment costs.
Worldwide, 219 million people get malaria each year and 435,000 people die of the disease. More than 90 percent of those deaths are in Africa, according to WHO.
The tiny mosquito-borne parasites that cause malaria may also change the body odor of those they infect, making people more attractive to mosquitoes that spread it.
Mosquito nets are being widely used for fishing in poor countries around the world.
Handing out free or subsidized mosquito nets is one of the most effective ways to tackle malaria. However, there have been anecdotal reports of people using the nets for fishing, rather than for protection while asleep.
