The Sunday News
While we celebrate the onset of the rain season, it is important to be vigilant and be always on the lookout for vectors that thrive under the current moist and hot conditions.Zimbabwe has been one of the key members of the rollback malaria campaign in southern Africa and continues to commit more resources to the fight against the disease.
Efforts by the Government and other stakeholders towards fighting the advance of malaria are quite commendable indeed but recent developments should be a cause of worry for all stakeholders.
Elsewhere in this edition we carry an article in which the Government is expressing its worry on the resurgence of malaria, with more than 600 deaths recorded so far this year, nine recently within a week.
These are worrying statistics indeed considering that last year 326 deaths were recorded throughout the year.
Our goal should be eliminating the disease and keeping fatalities to the barest minimum since the disease is quite preventable.
We believe there is a need for a concerted campaign to educate and re-emphasise the need for prevention in malaria-prone areas so that we eradicate the threat posed by malaria.
According to a Week 43 disease surveillance report by the health ministry, Manicaland Province recorded the highest number of deaths with three people having succumbed to malaria.
Mashonaland East Province recorded two deaths, the same number as Masvingo, while Midlands Province and Harare Metropolitan Province recorded a death each.
The report also shows that Manicaland had recorded the highest number of malaria cases in the week in question, 1 212 cases, almost half of the total number of cases recorded in Week 43 nationwide.
Of the total number of cases reported, 485 and one death were children under the age of five years. Health officials have warned that there is a danger of a resurgence of malaria, hence the need to redouble efforts to fight it.
We are aware that the Government together with its many partners have embarked on many programmes to stop the spread of malaria, including indoor and outdoor spraying, distribution of mosquito nets and spreading information on the disease across the country. We have had challenges in the past with communities that were not accessible such as gold panners and those that resist modern medicine but we believe there is a change in attitudes and that our traditional and church leaders should play a bigger role in spreading the message.
What has also worried governments across the continent is the abuse of mosquito nets by villagers, some of whom use them for fishing instead of protecting themselves against mosquitoes.
Despite these challenges Zimbabwe can still record major successes if we work together and identify new problem areas such as cross-border threats and formulate strategies to deal with the new threats. We cannot afford to lose any more lives to a disease that is preventable and treatable.
What is needed is for everyone to take responsibility and be armed with the correct information since the number of deaths could rise as mosquitoes thrive in wet and warm weather.
