It is around the rainy season that malaria prevalence reaches its peak. Many Batswana, particularly in northern Botswana, have fallen victim to malaria attacks and unfortunately many lives have been lost in the process.It is unfortunate that major international tourist destinations such as Chobe and Ngami are also prone to malaria outbreaks. Therefore, the disruptions of malaria has not just been social but has caused major economic disruptions. Unless malaria is kept under control it could decimate populations in these areas and even draw away tourists for most part of the year.
This is of course an eventuality that we cannot deal with.The only option open to us is to devise ways of combating the spread of malaria. Thankfully, the international community through such forums as World Health Organisation has come up with programmes that can help countries to counteract the threat of malaria.These efforts are now bearing fruit. Progress reviewed over the years shows that incidences of malaria have been significantly coming down, thanks to the targeted interventions. In 2000, some 71 500 cases were reported, but the cases have declined to 17 800 in 2008. This is a significant improvement, but a lot still needs to be done to drastically reduce the high prevalence of the disease.As health experts openly confessed, the indoor residual spraying is still far from attaining the threshold of spraying at least 80 percent of the targeted dwelling structures. The ministry cannot succeed on its own in the fight to control malaria, there is every need to have buy-in and total participation of the community in these endeavours.
