Fight World Malaria Day

 On World Malaria Day, the WHO said six African countries could be free of the disease by 

2020. Despite this ray of hope, the statistics are still grim and the disease deadly, especially in 

sub-Saharan Africa. 

At the Gache Gache clinic in the remote town Of Kariba, 360 kilometers (224 miles) 

northwest of Harare, Zimbabwe, nurse Gadzirai Matem is treating malaria patients. He 

told DW he has seen a drop in the number of malaria cases though they tend to rise in the 

rainy season. They have to ration mosquito nets because resources are limited. 

"Sometimes we are forced to screen patients and focus on children under the age Of five 

and pregnant mothers because they are at high risk of contracting malaria," he said. 

WHO report 

In a report marking World Malaria Day the World Health Organization 

(WHO) said six African countries - Algiera, Botswana, Cape Verde, Comoros, South Africa 

and Swaziland - could be free Of malaria by the end Of the decade. 

South Africa has seen a five-fold decline in the number of malaria cases since 2000 when 

the country registered 64,000 cases: By 2014 the number had fallen to 11,700. Most of the 

diagnoses came from areas bordering Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. 

Zimbabwe has also said it wishes to eliminate malaria by 2020, though it is not on the 

WHO's list of African nations tipped to reach this target 

One local Kariba resident told DW that when you go to a hospital or clinic there "you are 

tested for everything including malaria because they know this area is malaria prone." 

Visiting a clinic is not always easy. Roads are inaccessible during the rainy season and 

health workers are forced to rely on boats to ferry patients across the lake to Kariba town. 

Selling free mosquito nets 

The central African nation of Cameroon is also struggling with malaria. Minister of 

Health Andre Mamma Fouda told DW that out Of 600,000 patients who sought 

consultation and treatment recently, 75 percent (450,000) were found to be suffering 

from malaria, "which shows the gravity of malaria in Cameroon.' 

He also explained what the country was doing to combat the disease. "We are now 

equipping our hospitals with rapid diagnostic testing and anti-malaria drugs at 

subsidized rates." Cameroon also says it is distributing mosquito nets treated with 

insecticide free of charge to stop people from becoming infected. But local media accuse 

hospital staff of selling the nets in Chad and Nigeria. 

Founda said that this year's fatalities from malaria in Cameroon included more than 

2,000 people, mostly women and children, who had fled to the north of the country 

hoping to escape the Boko Haram insurgency. 

Another instance of public health deteriorating while conflict rages is South Sudan. The 

medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the country experienced an 

unprecedented malaria outbreak in 2015, worsened by shortages of anti-malarial drugs. 

Malaria is caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected 

female mosquitoes. The most deadly malaria parasite and the most prevalent in Africa is 

Plasmodium falciparum. The first symptoms - fever, headache, chills and vomiting - 

usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. Without prompt 

treatment, Plasmodium falciparum malaria can progress to sever illness and death, the 

WHO says on its website. 

Response: This article was written in honor of Word Malaria Day and to raise awareness about
the disease. They talked a lot about the statistics on how they plan to
decrease the number of malaria cases in six African countries by the end of the
decade and the reasons that other African countries have not been able to
eradicate malaria. From what the article said, it sounds like the violence and
political unrest contributes to the issue of Malaria as well as the time of
year. This article addressed health issues as well as political and terror
issues that make up so much of the current problems in Africa. If they really
have come up with a solution to start defeating malaria, it will be a huge
change for the countries in Africa that suffer so greatly from this disease.

Citation: Caldwell, Mark. "Africa: World Malaria Day - Africa's Protracted Fight." 

All Africa. AllAfrica, 25 Apr. 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. <http://allafrica.com/stories/201604260300.html>