By Kemo Cham
Progress against Malaria is at serious risk of reversal by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have warned, calling for concerted effort to prevent that.
The WHO said the pandemic could turn back the clock 20 years on deaths caused by the parasitic disease.
The warning comes as the world commemorated World Malaria Day on April 25.
Malaria, caused by a parasite transmitted through a mosquito bite, is a top global killer disease, mostly affecting poor countries, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa.
The UN health agency said deaths in the region could double to 769,000 this year if the Covid-19 crisis disrupts programmes, thereby causing countries to fail to maintain delivery of insecticide-treated nets and access to antimalarial medicines.
In 2018, there were 213 million deaths from the disease in the region, representing 93% of the global deaths (228), according to WHO figures.
“While Covid-19 is a major health threat, it’s critical to maintain malaria prevention and treatment programmes,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa Region Director, said in a statement.
“The new modeling shows deaths could exceed 700,000 this year alone. We haven’t seen mortality levels like that in 20 years. We must not turn back the clock,” she added.
The WHO is urging countries to focus their programmes on preventative treatment for pregnant women and children, the two most vulnerable groups to the disease.
In Sierra Leone there have already been concerns over the effect of the ongoing viral pandemic on the health sector, amidst reports that people are shunning health facilities due to fears of getting infected by the virus.
It is not clear how much this has already affected the programme in the country. But the Ministry of Health and its partners have vowed to continue the fight regardless of the pandemic.
Last week officials of the National Malaria Control Porgramme (NMCP) said there would be no changes in its activities.
In a joint statement with its partners, including Speak Up Africa, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and the African Union, the NMCP said its commitment to the elimination of Malaria was alive and well.
“While the scale of the national World Malaria Day event has rightly been reduced in line with current restrictions, the energy and passion for elimination of malaria is still alive and well in Sierra Leone,” the statement said.
This year’s World Malaria Day was commemorated on the theme: “Zero Malaria Starts With Me.” It speaks to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 which seeks to end transmission of the disease by 2030.
In Sierra Leone, the theme is accompanied with the slogan: “Sleep insai maskita tent Oltem,” meaning “always sleep inside a treated mosquito bed net.
The government is working on its largest bed net distribution next month.
Dr Samuel Juana Smith, Director of Disease Control and Prevention in the Ministry of Health and the head of the NMCP, spoke about the need for more investment in efforts to meet the country’s target in the malaria fight.
“World Malaria Day is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and control. Indeed, properly investing in malaria interventions also increases the capacity of health care workers and helps to build more resilient health care systems as a whole, thereby helping in the fight against new diseases such as COVID19. Since around 25% of medical visits at any one time are due to malaria, investments to move towards malaria elimination will radically reduce the pressure on an already strained health system,” Dr Smith was quoted in the statement.
Freetown Mayor, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, stressed the need for partnership among local and national level leaders, as well as the private sector, in the fight against the disease.
“I strongly encourage all members of society, including politicians, local councils, religious leaders, paramount chiefs, the private sector, civil society organisations and the population at large to take responsibility for the fight against malaria and join me in becoming an advocate and champion of the Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign and the goal of malaria elimination by 2030,” she said.
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