On Friday, 25 April 2014 is World Malaria Day, a day to draw attention for continuous investment and protracted political commitment to prevent and control malaria around the world, especially in sub Saharan Africa where malaria continues to kill a child every minute, even though the disease is wholly preventable and treatable.
South Africa is part of the global community that commemorates the World Malaria day. The South African National Department of Health will use World Malaria Day to focus on the achievements, progress and challenges in the fight against malaria in the country and outside the country especially in the SADC region.
South Africa is moving towards malaria elimination by 2018, this means an interruption of local mosquito- borne malaria transmission in the country (zero cases of locally transmitted malaria).
The National and Provincial Malaria Control Programmes have been very successful in reducing the malaria risk in South Africa with numbers of reported cases decreasing from 60 000 in the 2 000 season, to an average of around 7000 cases annually. Malaria in South Africa is seasonal and occurs in certain geographical areas of Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
Furthermore, the World Malaria Day is an opportunity for the Department of Health to scale up malaria public information and education country wide, focusing on prevention and treatment.
To strengthen the department’s fight against malaria the public needs to know the key facts on malaria prevention and treatment.
- Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected anopheles mosquitoes which generally bite between 10 pm and 5 am.
- Malaria is preventable and curable.
- Increased malaria prevention and control measures are noticeably reducing the malaria burden in South Africa.
- Travellers from non endemic areas to malaria endemic areas are vulnerable to the disease and need to take preventative measures.
These symptoms appear within 10-15 days after the infective mosquito bite. The symptoms include, fever, headache, chills and vomiting. Early malaria diagnosis and treatment reduces disease severity and prevent deaths. If you suspect that you have malaria, you should immediately consult your health service provider to be tested and treated. If not treated within 24 hours malaria can progress to severe illness and death.
To date, there are no licensed vaccines against malaria, and people are advised to take personal protection methods when visiting malaria endemic area within and outside South Africa.
Vector control is the main method that is used in malaria endemic areas in South Africa to control malaria, through indoor spraying with residual insecticides that remain effective for up to 12 months depending on the type of insecticides used. Travellers to malaria endemic areas are advised to take antimalarial medicines.
Everyone is a risk of contracting malaria in malarious areas, but there are some higher risk groups including, children under five, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, travelers from non endemic areas and immigrant workers.
The global theme for malaria this year is:
“Invest in the future. Defeat malaria”, with the Global Malaria programme calling upon working endemic countries, donors, organisations and communities to work together to reduce malaria cases and deaths., The South African government is working with different partners to ensure that sufficient resources are invested in eliminating malaria”.
Remember malaria is preventable and curable, together we can push South Africa to eliminate malaria from its borders once and for all!
Enquiries:
Popo Maja, National Department of Health: Head of Communication
Tel: 012 395 9591
Cell: 072 585 3219 / 082 373 1169
