The World Health Organization says disruptions to treatment could lead to thousands of additional deaths.
Lack of funding and barriers to treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, the risk of an epidemic of Kovid-1p malaria has claimed thousands of lives, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in its annual report on mosquito-borne diseases. Monday.
The UN health agency said it was concerned that even a moderate disruption in access to treatment could lead to “significant loss of life”.
The report said a 10 per cent disruption in access to effective anti-malarial treatment in sub-Saharan Africa could lead to an additional 19,000 deaths. That number has risen to 46,000 with a 25 percent disruption in consumption and 100,000 at a 50-percent disruption.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. “Kovid-1 threatens to further derail our efforts to eradicate malaria, especially in treating people with the disease. Despite the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the African economy, international partners and countries need to do more to ensure that there are resources to expand the malaria programs that are making such a difference in people’s lives. “
A recent WHO World Report, which is preventable and curable of malaria and mainly affects countries in Africa, shows that progress against the disease slowed down earlier this year when the Kovid-1p epidemic broke out.
The WHO says the distribution of the net and other measures to prevent malaria in people are continuing in COVID-19, but the epidemic has made it more difficult for people to access treatment. [File: Yanick Folly/AFP]
In 2019, there were 229 million reported cases of malaria worldwide, an annual figure that has remained virtually unchanged over the past four years. Some 409,000 people died in 2019, compared to 411,000 in 2019.
The UN health agency says funding is part of the problem.
In 2000, African leaders signed the landmark Abuja Declaration, pledging a 50 percent reduction in malaria deaths across continents over a 10-year period.
Together with political commitment, there was a sharp increase in domestic and international funding, which helped reduce the continent’s death toll from malaria by 44 percent.
Lack of funds
But the lack of funding has widened access gaps for malaria-control measures, and a shortage in 2019, the WHO said. Was bn 3bn compared to the target of 6 5.6bn.
The WHO said better targets, new tools and increased funding are needed to change the global course of the disease and reach internationally agreed goals.
COVID-19 has emerged as an additional challenge because, as most malaria prevention campaigns, such as the treatment bed, continue without delay, epidemics make it more difficult for people with malaria to reach their treatment needs.
The health agency estimates that the global target for reducing malaria incidence by 2020 will be 37.37 percent and the mortality target will be 22 percent.
WHO warns world to lose malaria incidence and death targets by 2020 [File: AFP]
With a request for an increase in costs, the WHO notes that its response to the “impact on impact” (HBHI), which began in 2018, could help re-enter progress.
The 11 countries that follow this strategy, 10 of them in Africa, tailor their responses to the disease based on local data and intelligence.
Although the review is still in its early days, the report found that deaths in the 11 countries participating in the scheme have been reduced from 263,000 to 226,000 between 2018 and 2019. Last two years.
The report states that 21 countries have eradicated malaria in the last 20 years; Of these, 10 countries have been officially certified as malaria free by the WHO.
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