By Mohamed Foday Conteh
The Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Amara Jambai has said that 23 percent of all deaths in Sierra Leone are related to malaria.
Dr. Jambai made this statement on Friday 20th August 2021 while the country was commemorating World Mosquito Day at the Ministry’s conference hall, Youyi Building in Freetown.
He observed that malaria related deaths are not only prevalent in infants but adults as well, with most malaria related deaths in adults often unreported. “It is stealthily killing adults,” Dr. Jambai said.
The deputy minister stressed the importance of curbing the spread of malaria by killing the parasite responsible. He drew reference to the Southern States in the US that have eradicated the parasite responsible for malaria and canvassed the will of Sierra Leoneans to adhere to preventive measures. “We can also do the same,” he noted.
He also expressed his appreciation to the government and its partners for their goodwill in aiding the fight for zero malaria target. He said that the target goal would be impossible to reach if the necessary support needed got missing.
The United States Mission’s Malaria Resident Advisor, Dr. Ramlat Jose, while making her keynote address said an estimated 2 million of the country’s clinic cases are due to malaria every year. “Malaria remains one of the biggest health threats to Sierra Leone citizens,” Dr. Jose stated. She noted that eliminating mosquitoes in homes and communities is the stepping stone to success in winning the fight against malaria.
She commended the effort of government in trying to prevent malaria. “This year, the government conducted the first district wide Indoor Residual Spraying in two districts,” she stated. She also spoke about the exercise involving the spraying of walls with insecticides to kill mosquitoes that transmit malaria. Dr. Jose said it will aid in the protection of 700,000 (seven hundred thousand) people from mosquito bites. She also stated that 4.6 million bed nets with effective insecticides were distributed to prevent 7 million Sierra Leoneans from mosquito bites and subsequently malaria.
She also revealed how the US government partnered with the Sierra Leonean government to refurbish an existing facility in Makeni that will enable the MoHS conduct systematic collection of mosquitoes and test their resistance. This, she believed will enable the MoHS with the necessary tools to prevent malaria, and assured the Sierra Leonean government of the continued support of the US government in the fight to achieve zero malaria target.
According to a presentation by Wani Kumba Lahai, Principal Public Health Sister at the MoHS, Tonkolili district, the district recorded the highest rate of malaria cases with over 65 percent. Port Loko was second with 59 percent malaria cases. Both Kenema and Bombali recorded the least in the interior with 38 percent each. Western Area Urban recorded only 6 percent of malaria cases.
Lahai stated that one of the prevalence of malaria in some of the interior was because of improper use of bed nets. She presented that bed nets are normally used as fishing nets and as strings to seal charcoal bags. She also said that malaria cases in Sierra Leone are now lower as compared to Togo, Nigeria, The Gambia, Mauritania and Algeria. She said the country has achieved an 86 percent decline in malaria deaths between 2010 and 2015.
Speaking on the prevention of malaria, Dr. Rev. Canon Thomas T. Samba, Chief Medical Officer, said that there are now cost-effective arsenal to fight against the disease. He pointed out that if swift interventions are instituted well, the country will eradicate the disease. He called for a robust public health intervention to be instituted to fight the disease and that a reduction in the density of the amount of mosquitoes per area will aid in eradicating and preventing the prevalence of the disease.
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