The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu Senior Reporter
SMALL scale irrigation communities and areas like Kariba are some of the drivers of the spread of malaria because of the presence of large water bodies and high temperatures that favour the growth of the malaria parasite.During a Roll Back Malaria programme in Victoria Falls last month, Kariba was mentioned as one of the highly burdened areas in Zimbabwe resulting in the spread of the disease to neighbouring countries such as Zambia.
The Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said Zimbabwe was making efforts to collaborate with countries bordering that area to seek ways of addressing the problem.
“We had collaborations with South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Angola where there is this sharp meeting of countries and it was to emphasise the cross border nature of it. The Zambezi valley is very low lying right up to Mozambique and mosquitoes breed well there as it is also very warm,” he said.
He said the warm and wet conditions in the zone made it easy for malaria parasites to breed hence Kariba was a very vulnerable area.
The minister said there was a mobile boat that was moving from one area to the other in Kariba dam region to look at these issues within the valley.
“We take extra care especially when it is flooding like in the Malikuromba areas of Mashonaland Central province, people have to be moved from the low lying areas as mosquitoes breed very easily in such conditions,” he said.
Malaria accounts for the greatest percentage of admissions at health institutions in Kariba. There are also cases of illegal gold panning in several areas of the country which is also driving malaria as panners are exposed to the parasites as they operate along river beds.
Small scale irrigation schemes have also been said to be breeding zones due to the abundance of water and the high temperatures.
The population groups that are at risk are the farmers themselves and the people around the irrigation schemes. Pathogens are also spread through the use of overhead sprinklers for irrigation.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the prevention of malaria should be done on a zonal basis so that they are certain that they have managed to eliminate it in a specific area.
He also said when the ministry undertakes Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) the public should open up their houses so that they are sprayed.
Ministers of Health from various countries who attended the RBM meeting pledged to explore other domestic financing sources including departments of Environment, Water & Sanitation, Agriculture, Tourism and Home Affairs and others by ensuring the issue of Malaria was placed on the agenda of the Heads of States to achieve an integrated budgeting approach in countries.
They also said they would commit to cross border initiatives of malaria control and elimination as recognition of the intricate link between malaria and human mobility in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration.
The private sector was also encouraged to strengthen their engagement in addressing the malaria epidemic by bringing their expertise, innovation, and resources while development partners must support efforts to address gaps in knowledge, skills and funding at regional and global level.