The Farmer
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- Jan 7, 2009
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Govt sees malaria beaten in 6 years
2009-03-26 11:19:32
By Guest Writer Jan Ajwang
Following Monday`s release of a new global map on malaria, the government has expressed hope that Tanzania will triumph over the killer disease in six years` time.
The map shows Tanzania as one of sub-Saharan African countries with the highest prevalence of malaria and is one of the latest initiatives in rolling back the disease.
Health and Social Welfare deputy minister Aisha Kigoda said on Tuesday that the release of the map would enhance Tanzania`s fight against malaria ``with more knowledge about the disease and its prevalence across the country so that we can kick it out by 2015``.
``The map will be of use to health workers, policymakers, researchers and other players in the war on malaria. It will help them in more easily identifying the places worst hit and thus enable them to focus on them faster,`` she added.
She described the map as a good thing to the country and the donor community, elaborating: ``All these could use it to know exactly where the problem lies so that appropriate support or assistance can be directed to the most disadvantaged areas.``
Malaria is the ninth most significant cause of death and disability globally and is among the leading killers of under-fives and expectant mothers in Tanzania.
It also contributes to one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world.
The map was done by a multinational team of over 200 researchers, funded by the UK`s Wellcome Trust and released under the Malaria Atlas Project.
``The maps also show that almost all populations at medium and high levels of risk live in sub-Saharan Africa where the disease, death and disability burdens from malaria remain high,`` noted a Wellcome Trust statement.
Accompanying study results show that 70 per cent of the 2.4 billion people at some risk of infection with the malaria parasite live in areas of unstable or low endemic risk, where the technical obstacles to control of the disease are relatively small.
They further show that obstacles to malaria control mainly stretch from lack of knowledge about the disease, poor access to medical care and treatment.
``The map published today is the first in an annual series, which will help monitor and evaluate progress towards international targets for control and elimination,`` Dr Simon Hay, lead researcher who manages the project from the Department of Zoology at the UK`s University of Oxford, said.
Prof Bob Snow from the University of Oxford and the Kenyan Medical Research Institute, who heads the MAP group in Kenya, meanwhile explained that charting the future success of international efforts to control and eliminate malaria ``requires a map of the present-day situation which, when systematically updated, will indicate the progress achieved in ten, twenty and thirty years` time``.
Rather than guessing what`s happened, he said, the MAP`s intention has been ``to record, model and map developments, giving donors and national governments an evidence-based perspective on what their investments have achieved``.
Most of the international support for malaria-endemic countries is coordinated and dispersed by the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The new map has been welcomed by its Executive Director, Prof Michel Kazatchkine, who noted: ``We need to increase the information available to us and to our donors to demonstrate that investing in malaria control does indeed reduce the numbers of people at risk worldwide.``
``With this kind of information, we can reassure donors by graphically showing progress and highlight where further investments are most needed,`` he pointed out.
The National Malaria Control Programme says Tanzania has between 16 and 18 million cases of malaria occurring each year and ending in more than 100,000 deaths.
Malaria accounts for some 30 per cent of the country`s disease burden, with some 35 per cent of deaths occurring at hospitals.
Statistics show that 37 per cent of the deaths are of children aged below five years, while pregnant women account for 25 per cent of maternal deaths.
The government has set 2015 as the target to eradicate the disease, which eats up 3.4 per cent of the gross domestic product.
SOURCE: Guardian
2009-03-26 11:19:32
By Guest Writer Jan Ajwang
Following Monday`s release of a new global map on malaria, the government has expressed hope that Tanzania will triumph over the killer disease in six years` time.
The map shows Tanzania as one of sub-Saharan African countries with the highest prevalence of malaria and is one of the latest initiatives in rolling back the disease.
Health and Social Welfare deputy minister Aisha Kigoda said on Tuesday that the release of the map would enhance Tanzania`s fight against malaria ``with more knowledge about the disease and its prevalence across the country so that we can kick it out by 2015``.
``The map will be of use to health workers, policymakers, researchers and other players in the war on malaria. It will help them in more easily identifying the places worst hit and thus enable them to focus on them faster,`` she added.
She described the map as a good thing to the country and the donor community, elaborating: ``All these could use it to know exactly where the problem lies so that appropriate support or assistance can be directed to the most disadvantaged areas.``
Malaria is the ninth most significant cause of death and disability globally and is among the leading killers of under-fives and expectant mothers in Tanzania.
It also contributes to one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world.
The map was done by a multinational team of over 200 researchers, funded by the UK`s Wellcome Trust and released under the Malaria Atlas Project.
``The maps also show that almost all populations at medium and high levels of risk live in sub-Saharan Africa where the disease, death and disability burdens from malaria remain high,`` noted a Wellcome Trust statement.
Accompanying study results show that 70 per cent of the 2.4 billion people at some risk of infection with the malaria parasite live in areas of unstable or low endemic risk, where the technical obstacles to control of the disease are relatively small.
They further show that obstacles to malaria control mainly stretch from lack of knowledge about the disease, poor access to medical care and treatment.
``The map published today is the first in an annual series, which will help monitor and evaluate progress towards international targets for control and elimination,`` Dr Simon Hay, lead researcher who manages the project from the Department of Zoology at the UK`s University of Oxford, said.
Prof Bob Snow from the University of Oxford and the Kenyan Medical Research Institute, who heads the MAP group in Kenya, meanwhile explained that charting the future success of international efforts to control and eliminate malaria ``requires a map of the present-day situation which, when systematically updated, will indicate the progress achieved in ten, twenty and thirty years` time``.
Rather than guessing what`s happened, he said, the MAP`s intention has been ``to record, model and map developments, giving donors and national governments an evidence-based perspective on what their investments have achieved``.
Most of the international support for malaria-endemic countries is coordinated and dispersed by the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The new map has been welcomed by its Executive Director, Prof Michel Kazatchkine, who noted: ``We need to increase the information available to us and to our donors to demonstrate that investing in malaria control does indeed reduce the numbers of people at risk worldwide.``
``With this kind of information, we can reassure donors by graphically showing progress and highlight where further investments are most needed,`` he pointed out.
The National Malaria Control Programme says Tanzania has between 16 and 18 million cases of malaria occurring each year and ending in more than 100,000 deaths.
Malaria accounts for some 30 per cent of the country`s disease burden, with some 35 per cent of deaths occurring at hospitals.
Statistics show that 37 per cent of the deaths are of children aged below five years, while pregnant women account for 25 per cent of maternal deaths.
The government has set 2015 as the target to eradicate the disease, which eats up 3.4 per cent of the gross domestic product.
SOURCE: Guardian
