Significance of World Malaria Day

Article: Salome Donkor
GHANA will join the global community to mark the first World Malaria Day (WMD) tomorrow, April 25. The theme for the 2008 WMD is “Malaria - A Disease Without Borders”, and the slogan is: “Unite to Combat Malaria”.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that malaria continues to haunt 40 per cent of the world's population and affects more than 500 million people a year, killing more than 1 million.
The burden of malaria is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa but the disease also afflicts Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and even parts of Europe.
The World Malaria Day - which was instituted by the World Health Assembly at its 60th Session in May 2007 - is a day for recognising the global effort at providing effective control to malaria.
It is also an opportunity for countries in the affected regions to learn from each other's experiences, support each other's efforts and encourage new donors to join a global partnership against malaria.
It is also for research and academic institutions to flag their scientific advances to both experts and the general public; and for international partners, companies and foundations to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked out.
Before the institution of the WMD last year, African heads of state have signed a declaration at Abuja, Nigeria in April 2000 calling for at least one billion US dollars a year to be made available to the Roll Back Malaria movement in Africa to help achieve its aims of reducing malaria deaths by half at the end of the decade.
Known as the Abuja Declaration on Roll Back Malaria in Africa, the initiative taken in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, culminated in the celebration of Africa Malaria Day, which prevailed until the WHO instituted WMD at its 60th Session in May last year.
Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public health problem.
The free encyclopaedia says each year, malaria affects approximately 515 million people and kills between one and three million people, the majority of whom are young children in Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for about one in five of all childhood deaths.
It also contributes greatly to anaemia among children which is the major cause of their poor growth and development.
Malaria infection during pregnancy is associated with severe anaemia and other illness in the mother and contributes to low birth weight among new-born infants — one of the leading risk factors for infant mortality and sub-optimal growth and development.
Malaria parasites are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasites multiply in red blood cells, causing symptoms of anaemia (light headedness, shortness of breath, etc.), as well as other general symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, flu-like illness, and in severe cases, coma and death.
Malaria is both preventable and treatable, while effective preventive and curative tools have been developed. The transmission of the disease can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites with the use of mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito control measures such as spraying insecticides inside houses and draining standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs.
Sleeping under insecticide treated nets can reduce overall child mortality by 20 per cent. There is evidence that insecticide treated nets (ITNs), when consistently and correctly used, can save six child lives per year for every one thousand children sleeping under them.
Unfortunately, many children, especially in Africa, continue to die from malaria since they do not sleep under insecticide-treated nets and are unable to access life-saving treatment within 24 hours of onset of symptoms.
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), between 3-3.5 million cases of malaria were reported in Ghana each year. The disease accounts for more than 61 per cent of hospital admissions of children under five years, and 8 per cent of admissions of pregnant women.
In support of the national malaria prevention programmes the United States Government announced in December 2006, that Ghana had been selected as one of the eight countries to benefit from an initiative to rapidly scale up malaria prevention and treatment interventions in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease was most prevalent under a five-year, $1.2 billion project.
The most up-to-date information on nation-wide coverage of key malaria prevention and control
measures in Ghana comes from a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, conducted from August to early October 2006, which indicates that approximately 30 per cent of households reportedly own at least one bed net (of any type) while almost 19 per cent reportedly own one or more insecticide-treated nets (ITN).
In order to extend the reach of malaria interventions to the community level, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) was instituted to reduce malaria mortality by 50 per cent in vulnerable groups, namely pregnant women, children under five years of age, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
This will be accomplished by achieving 85 per cent coverage of groups at risk with four key interventions which are the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for malaria in pregnancy, use of ITNs, and indoor spraying with residual insecticides (IRS).
To mark the Day, the MOH will hold a one-day seminar for media practitioners in Accra to sensitise them to malaria control and prevention programmes.
The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), which is a network of African journalists and scientists working together to fight malaria in Africa is organising a four-day workshop to commemorate the day.
On this year's World Malaria Day, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership - which includes WHO - will focus on malaria as a global health problem and partners will engage the international community in their fight against malaria.
Another goal of the PMI is to strengthen and improve the capacity of indigenous non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to undertake malaria prevention and control activities under the leadership of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP).
As depicted in the theme for this year’s celebration, malaria is a disease without borders and all are at risk, especially pregnant women and children under five.
We all need to unite to combat malaria through the use of locally appropriate vector control methods such as the use of ITNs, and, where appropriate, indoor residual spraying (IRS) and, in some settings, other biological and environmental measures, such as the maintenance of clean surroundings to drive away mosquitoes.
The organisers of the first World Malaria Day have launched an internet campaign in a bid to get as many people as possible to involve themselves in the event on April 25 at the Roll Back Malaria's website, where they can find out what events are taking place.