As Rwanda joined the world to mark World Malaria Day on Tuesday, April 25, Rwandans were asked to keep up the fight against malaria.

At the national level, the day was celebrated in Gicumbi District, Northern Province. It was held under the theme "Time to deliver zero malaria: Invest, innovate, implement.”

Although the country has significantly reduced malaria incidence over the past six years, the disease still affects the population, hence the call to continue implementing measures to eradicate it nationwide.

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Malaria killed more than 600,000 globally in 2021, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), malaria incidence per 1,000 people in a year declined from 409 in 2017 to 76 in 2022, marking an 81 per cent decrease.

Uncomplicated malaria cases declined by 76 per cent from more than 3.9 million in 2018 to just under one million in 2022. Severe cases admitted to hospital declined by 74 per cent, from some 7,000 cases to 1,800.

Malaria-related deaths fell by 73 per cent, from 264 to 71 deaths.

"People need to keep malaria prevention measures, such as always sleeping under a mosquito net, seeking treatment as early as possible, and making use of the community health workers’ services available at the village level,” Director of Vector Control at RBC, Dr Emmanuel Hakizimana, said.

At every village there are four community health workers, who have the capacity to take tests and treat malaria to prevent severe cases, he said.

Today, 55 per cent of all malaria cases are treated at the community level by the community health workers deployed in every village.

Hakizimana said the government is planning to begin administering malaria vaccines approved by the WHO.

The vaccine for three- to five-year-old children is said to be 60 per cent effective in reducing severe disease, he said.

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The RBC distributed bed nets in 18 districts that are not covered by indoor residual spraying and also distributed bed nets for children under five and pregnant women. Indoor residual spraying was carried out in 12 districts with a high burden of malaria.

Rwanda also uses preventive interventions like aerial spraying, during which drones are used to attack mosquito larvae with a biological insecticide.

"Africa recorded positive achievements in the fight against malaria. 75 per cent of mosquito nets needed on the continent were issued. Malaria testing and treatment services were also provided as usual,” Head of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at WHO Rwanda, Dr Jules Mugabo Semahore, said.

"In Africa, we have been able to prevent more than 1.6 billion malaria cases and 11 million deaths between 2000 and 2021. These figures indicate that malaria can be eradicated.”

In the African region, WHO reported that in 2021, malaria cases increased by two million to 234 million, although deaths decreased from 593,000 to 544,000 in 2020.

Semahore commended efforts by Rwanda, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritania and Zimbabwe – countries that have significantly reduced malaria incidence.

He said World Malaria Day was an opportunity for the WHO and its partners to remind governments to increase the political will and financial resources needed to eradicate malaria.

Globally in 2021, there were an estimated 247 million malaria cases reported in 84 malaria-endemic countries, an increase of two million cases compared with 2020, according to WHO.

The estimated deaths in 2021 were 619,000 in 2021 compared to 625,000 in 2020.