Lusaka Province health director Consty Mwale says the country recorded 2.9 million cases of malaria by April this year compared to 7.6 million cases recorded in 2020.
Dr. Mwale says despite recording significant reduction this year, four people die from the disease everyday which translates to over 1,500 malaria deaths per year.
“ The situation is unacceptable because malaria is preventable and curable. There is need for accelerated efforts by all stakeholders in the country to completely curb the disease, “ he said.
He said this during the launch of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) malaria week yesterday at Chainda primary school grounds in Chongwe.
Dr. Mwale revealed that ministry of health will continue taking all malaria elimination interventions to communities and facilitate participation of all stakeholders in the fight against the disease.
The health director stated that increased domestic funding for malaria and enhanced localised interventions by government and its cooperating partners are among the innovative localised interventions in place to eliminate malaria.
“The country has established the End malaria fund is a local initiative to raise local resources so as to ensure that malaria interventions are implemented in a timely manner,” Dr. Mwale said.
He reaffirmed government’s commitment to eliminating malaria in the country and the SADC region.
And World Health Organization (WHO) Country representative Nathan Bakyaita states that the organization recognises the efforts and achievements made by Ministry of health through the National malaria elimination program to implement the malaria elimination strategic plan for 2017-2021 despite the negative impacts presented by the covid-19 pandemic on the country.
Mr. Bakyaita said WHO also continued to ensured that guidelines on routine management of malaria were availed and made modifications to interventions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He reaffirmed WHO and the UN’s commitment to support the final implementation of the current malaria elimination strategic plan and facilitate the ongoing process of formulating the next 2022-2026 plan.
Mr. Bakyaita commended Zambia and all SADC member States for the commitment they have shown to participate in the SADC malaria week.
Meanwhile, Chongwe District Commissioner Evans Lupiya advised residents to follow other malaria prevention interventions put in place by government to avoid the spread of the killer disease.
Mr. Lupiya stated that government will continue to implement evidence based malaria prevention measures for the country to achieve a malaria free status by the year 2030.
It’s sad that malaria continues to be among the top killers in Zambia when we a plethora of local physicians that claim to be scientists yet they have failed to eliminate this killer disease. They’re only scientists in workshops drawing allowances. It’s also very illegal for Sylvia Tembo Masebo to make covid-19 vaccines compulsory. Now mothers that take children for under 5 clinics aren’t being attended to unless they get the jab. You can’t force people to take vaccines, who gave you authority?