Botswana could be malaria free � report
Tefo Pheage | Thursday April 28, 2016 11:17
Other countries are Algeria, Cape Verde, Comoros Islands, South Africa and Swaziland. “WHO estimates that 21 countries are in a position to achieve this goal, including six countries in the African region, where the burden of the disease is heaviest,” the Geneva−based organisation said in a statement.
The news comes some few months after Botswana was awarded the 2016 African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) award, in recognition of its attainment of more than 75 percent of the goals set for control and management of the disease in terms of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set in 2000.
Botswana has just been allocated a total grant of $32.7m by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to support the local fight against the triple scourge.
With a dream to eliminate the disease, Botswana registered 12 malaria-related deaths in 2008, seven in 2009, eight in 2010 and 2011, three in 2012, four in 2015 and already has two this year. The country has 513 malaria related cases registered already.
Statistics show that Botswana has, over the past 14 years, reduced the incidence of malaria from 42 cases per 1,000 of the population in the year 2000 to 0.23 per 1,000 in 2013.
Neighbouring South Africa registered 11,700 cases of the disease in 2014 – down from 64,000 in 2000 – with most diagnoses coming from areas bordering Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus eradicated malaria in 2015, according to a WHO report published earlier this month.
Some 214 million people suffered from malaria last year of which 438,000 died from the disease, according to the organisation.
Malaria transmission levels vary significantly within Botswana with more cases being reported in the northern part of the country.
Statistics show that significant malaria hotspots were reported in only three districts (Chobe, Okavango and Ngami district) in northern Botswana from 2008 to 2010. Malaria transmission in the country has decreased over the years, and became limited to the districts along the borders with Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
A midterm review of the strategic plan conducted in October 2013 indicated that Botswana is still within reach of its 2015 target, but there is need to strengthen surveillance and targeting of vector control interventions.
Malaria control activities in Botswana started in the 1950s with a programme that focused mainly on vector control using IRS with diethyl-dichloro-trichloroethane (DDT)[2].
A closer look in national reports shows that in the past decade, the country has made great strides towards implementation of key, high-impact interventions recommended for malaria control in accordance with international calls. Passive surveillance through monthly reports by integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR) has been the mainstay of surveillance. Following the comprehensive national malaria programme (NMP) review of 2009, Botswana adopted the move towards malaria elimination and the target was set for 2015.
This process, researchers say, also implemented strengthened vector control by scaling-up other interventions such as mass distribution of LLINs and introduction of winter bio-larviciding.