Africa-Press – Mozambique. At least 99 people died of malaria in Niassa province between January and August of this year, from among the 448,526 cases recorded, provincial authorities have announced.
According to a note from the Niassa Provincial Executive Council, seen by Lusa today, from January to August, Niassa recorded a total of 448,526 cases and 99 deaths, a 62.3% increase compared to 2024.
In the same period, Niassa also registered a total 68 confirmed cases of mpox, recorded mainly in Lago district, and thus leads the list of provinces affected by the disease. Maputo province has recorded four cases, Manica, three, and Cabo Delgado, one case.
Niassa “authorities are strengthening epidemiological surveillance and awareness campaigns to contain both diseases [malaria and mpox]”, the document states.
Lusa reported on June 17 that at least 270 people died from malaria from January to May of this year in Mozambique, which has recorded more than six million cases.
Mozambican government statistics through May indicate that Zambézia province is the most affected by malaria, with 1,482,969 cases of malaria on record, followed by Nampula, with 1,465,364, and Sofala, with 476,333.
In 2024, at least 358 people died from malaria in Mozambique, which last year recorded more than 11.5 million cases of malaria and approximately 67,000 malaria-related hospitalizations, the Mozambican president announced on World Malaria Day (April 25th), calling for greater protection for children.
The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, the second for children, developed by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, is already in use in Mozambique, following the advice of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG).
The country expects to receive mpox vaccines this month to contain a possible spread of mpox cases, the government announced.
Mozambican authorities announced increased border surveillance, with screening and testing teams, to curb the spread of cases of mpox. The health department also affirmed that Mozambique is prepared to deal with mpox, with the capacity to conduct 4,000 tests locally, and having so far used only 800.
Mpox is a zoonotic viral disease, first identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the current outbreak in southern Africa, since January 1st, 77,458 cases of the disease have been reported in 22 countries, with 501 deaths.
The National Directorate of Public Health points to the testing capacity now available in the provinces, with 4,000 tests available and 1,000 for reagent analysis to identify strains of positive cases, as the biggest change in three years.
Mozambique now has the capacity to test, in public health laboratories, in all provincial capitals.
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