Rwanda is among seven African countries which were yesterday recorgnised for exceptional progress in scaling up malaria control interventions.

This was during the official opening of the African Union Summit of Heads of State that is underway in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) award recognises African countries with accelerated action in malaria prevention and control.

The award was handed  to President Paul Kagame  by Armando Guebuza, the President of Mozambique.

Rwanda maintained at least 95 per cent coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN) and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) interventions throughout the previous year which are important tools in malaria prevention. 

The other countries are Cape Verde, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Swaziland.

Dr. Corine Karema, the head of Malaria and other Parasitic Diseases department at Rwanda Biomedical Centre, attributed the progress to an aggressive Government-led rollout of an integrated prevention, treatment and mosquito control programmes.  

"Rwanda has achieved significant reductions in malaria cases over the past decade. In 2005, malaria was the number one killer of children under the age of five.  In 2008, it dropped to the 3rd position and by 2012, it had dropped to 8th, she said.

Since 2005, free insecticidal nets were distributed to all households, to all children under the age of five upon completion of vaccination and to pregnant women at their first antenatal clinic visit.

Dr Karema added that there was also investment in the training of health care providers across the country to step up the number of cases treated after diagnosis. 

"Health care providers at all health facilities countrywide were trained in malaria cases management. Rwanda has since then achieved over 90 per cent laboratory confirmation of malaria cases before treatment, compared to 40 per cent in 2005. In 2010, the rate of malaria cases treated after laboratory confirmation was 94% and is 99% as at 2012,” Dr Karema said.

The Demography and Health Survey 2010 report showed that 83 per cent of households nationwide own at least one mosquito net and 82 per cent own at least one insecticide-treated net (ITN), compared to 18 per cent in 2005  and six per cent in 2000.  The report also showed that 71 per cent of children under the age of five slept under a mosquito net in 2010, compared to 10 per cent in 2000. 

Karema  also commended the role played by The Global Fund, Presidential Malaria Initiative through USAID, World Health Organisation and local Non-governmental organisations in the fight against malaria.

 Dr Karema said the country is still focused on zero malaria deaths by 2017.

 She echoed the sentiments of President Guebuza, the chairman of ALMA who maintained that there was need to end deaths emanating from  preventable diseases like malaria. 

"We cannot lose ground in our struggle to end preventable deaths. Our respective communities are counting on us to ensure that no African loses their life to this ancient disease,” Guebuza said.