By: Thaimu Bai Sesay
With massive improvements on the treatment of Malaria in Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in collaboration with Roll Back Malaria Partners has on Tuesday 25th April, 2023 launched the World Malaria Day at Military Hocky Pitch, Wilberforce, Freetown.
This year’s World Malaria Day which marked its 16th anniversary was commemorated under the international theme: “Time to deliver zero Malaria: Invest, Innovate, Implement” and the local theme in Krio language “Sleep insai maskita tent oltem” which means always sleep inside mosquito net.
The Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation Princess Dugba in her statement as keynote speaker explained that the local theme of this year’s commemoration was a grassroots cost-effective campaign that was doable by everyone and that its represented a chance for everyone to make a difference whether you were a government, company, a charitable organization, or an individual to roll back malaria and help generate broad gains in multiple areas of health and human development by consistently sleeping under the insecticide-treated Net (ITN) which government provided free for everyone in every three years.
Giving the bold steps the government had been taken in combating Malaria in Sierra Leone, the Deputy Minister intimated that the National Malaria Control Program of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and health partners conducted a mass distribution of Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets in May 2022 nationwide. “A total of 4.34 million ITN were distributed free to every household (with 2 persons to 1 ITN) with a maximum of three nets per household to attain universal coverage of 94.5% ITN coverage. In October/November/December this year (2023), 5.345 million bed nets will be distributed to consolidate the gains in universal coverage,” she noted.
Statistically stating the percentages of malaria cases and deaths in 85 countries, the Deputy Minister recalled that in 2020 Sierra Leone tested about 3.2 million suspected cases and treated about 2 million cases of confirmed malaria. Dugba however said that the vision of the National Malaria Elimination Strategic Plan, 2020-2025, was to accelerate the implementation of Malaria Control Interventions towards a Malaria-free Sierra Leone. “It is expected that by the end of 2025, we should reduce the malaria cases incidence and the malaria mortality rate by 75% from the 2015 level thus contributing significantly to the improvement of the well-being of the population by reducing the malaria burden,” she added.
A representative of World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Thumpson Igbu intimated that malaria had been a very stubborn public health enemy that had killed 619,000 people in 2021of whom approximately 96 percent lived in Africa. He however said that they could now save millions of lives each year from sickness and death caused by malaria following the novel progress toward the disease’s elimination.
WHO representative said that significant inequalities affected the most vulnerable, young children and women, and stated that about 80 percent of malaria cases and deaths occurred in children under five. He pointed out that to reverse those trends and accelerate progress, they must rethink and revitalize their strategies by investing, innovating and implementing smartly. He concluded that the commemoration of the World Malaria Day gave them an opportunity to renew political commitments and bolster investments in malaria prevention and control.
The Director of the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) Dr. Dennis H. Marke explained that to achieve the 75 percent in the malaria case incidence and mortality rate, the NMCP employed a multi-prong approach to malaria prevention, control and treatment strategies that were evidence-based. He stated that the strategies could be categorized into three key areas which he identified as Special Prevention Intervention, Malaria Diagnosis and Treatment and Surveillance, Monitoring Evaluation and Operational Research.