Appolonia Adeyemi 
As the world community marks World Mosquito Day today, African governments have been called upon to increase the funding invested in the fight to make their region malaria free.
The Board Chairman of the Medical Research Institute & Researcher, Biotechnology Centre at the University of Yaounde in Cameroun, Professor Emeritus Rose Leke said malaria is affecting many African countries; hence, governments in this region need to demonstrate the needed political will to tackle the malaria burden.
She made the call during a virtual summit on World Mosquito Day 2023, marked globally on August 20.
This year’s World Mosquito Day, which has the theme ‘Empowering Media Practitioners for Malaria Elimination,’ was organised by African Media & Malaria Research Network (AMMREN).
Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that about 90 per cent of all malaria deaths in the world today occur in Africa. Against this background, Prof Leke lamented that various African countries depend more on donor funding to actualise the fight against malaria, which is caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the four human malaria parasites.
“We depend on donors, and we need to know what we can do for ourselves,” Prof Leke added. Citing the example of what happened in the battle to contain polio, Leke said, “In polio, partners worked together to stem it. It’s a great partnership that has been working very well.”
Similarly, she said that considering that malaria is mainly in Africa, “We should depend on ourselves by using resources from the various countries. We should use our own money to fund malaria fights.”
She challenged the media to play its role as the fourth estate by holding the various African governments accountable.
The Regional Malaria Elimination Focal Point, World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, Dr. Ebenezer S. Baba highlighted the challenge of misusing insecticide-treated bed nets, saying the WHO can intervene because it’s not a Ghana issue. “The misuse of bed nets happens all over Africa; we have tried to use information to fight it.
“In some areas, we are able to make some progress while in others we can’t. The issue of getting laws to regulate it has been on the table.”
According to Baba, stakeholders continue to contemplate it, adding, “I think we should look at areas where we can get better. We should vaccinate, and we will look at that as well.”
For those shying away from diagnosis before treatment, Baba said that although cost remains a barrier to testing, the percentage of the fever not caused by malaria is less.
“You may have a situation where an individual who does not have malaria takes an anti-malaria treatment and doesn’t get better and then goes to the hospital and finds out that he has something else. Ultimately, that leads to a higher cost rather than a lower cost.”
However, Baba noted that the WHO supports adopting innovative mechanisms to curb malaria, including vaccination, using bed nets, and malaria chemoprevention, which prevents illness and death from malaria in children, among others.
Other resource persons at the summit are the Deputy Programme Manager, National Malaria Elimination Programme in Ghana, Dr Nana Yaw Peprah and Prof Evelyn Korkor Ansah, the director at the Centre for malaria research, University of Health & Allied Sciences in Ghana.
