By Kemo Cham
The fight against Malaria remains a major priority for Sierra Leone despite the challenge posed by Covid-19, officials running the country’s anti-malaria effort have assured.
The officials from the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) said there would be no change in the activities of the programme, whose goal is to eradicate the parasitic disease in the country in line with global targets.
“This year is a very unique one because of the emergence of Covid-19, but we can’t suspend all activities of malaria, otherwise people will die,” said Dr Sayni Turay, Deputy Programme Manager, NMCP.
He was speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, April 22, ahead of commemoration of World Malaria Day (WMD). He said the focus of the programme was to prevent the population from getting infected, noting that if people didn’t die as a result of Covid-19, they could be killed by Malaria.
Dr Turay spoke about plans by the programme to embark on the “largest” bed net distribution this year as part of their scheduled activities.
WMD, celebrated every April 25, was designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reflect on and assess progress towards the elimination of the parasitic disease.
Malaria is caused by a parasite which is transmitted by the mosquito. Sierra Leone is among 92 countries identified by the global health body as endemic to the disease which is said to have sickened 228 million people and claimed 405, 000 lives in 2018, according to the World Malaria Report 2019.
Ahead of the commemoration, WHO released a statement warning that malaria cases in Africa could double as Covid-19 disrupts response efforts on the continent.
Malaria accounts for the highest fatalities among children in developing countries. In Sierra Leone, the disease is a major contributor to its high maternal and infant mortality.
Figures from the Health Ministry show that malaria accounts for over two million outpatient cases, of which children account for one million.
Despite the grim picture painted by these figures, officials say there has been improvement in the fight against the disease, citing reduced deaths and cases, although they couldn’t provide statistics to back that up.
Nonetheless, the prevailing global health crisis no doubt poses a major threat to whatever progress that may have been registered.
There have been reports of reduced hospital visits in the country, as a result of fears of infection of the coronavirus.
The health ministry has intensified efforts to restore confidence in the sector, calling on the public to consider health facilities as the safest places to seek treatment.
Mr Harold Thomas, head of the Health Education Programme, said fighting malaria is as important as fighting Covid-19, given their commonalities.
“The need to reduce malaria is very important because fever is common to both Malaria and Covid-19,” Thomas told journalists at the press briefing held at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) of the health ministry.
This year’s WMD was commemorated on the theme: “Zero Malaria Starts with Me.” This is in line with the global goal of reaching zero cases and zero deaths by 2030, as envisaged by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In Sierra Leone, the local slogan is: “If you want to prevent malaria you have to sleep inside a mosquito net.”
Sleeping under a treated mosquito net is the best preventive measure recommended by experts. The Sierra Leone government regularly distribute the treated nets free of charge to the population.
The next round of distribution was set to commence before the WMD commemoration.
The NMCP said it had procured 4.6million nets towards this. The nets, according to Dr Turay, are special in that it’s the first time they will be used in the country.
“This year is the biggest distribution and it involves special nets,” he stated, referring to the advanced quality of the chemicals used to treat the nets which is said to guaranty maximum protection from the insects.
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