Africa-Press – Namibia. Namibia has recorded a staggering 95 729 malaria cases in 2025 – almost six times the 16 113 cases reported last year – prompting the launch of an urgent Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) campaign.
The campaign was launched by health minister Esperance Luvindao.
Zambezi’s Katima Mulilo District alone accounts for 26.2% of all cases, followed by Nkurenkuru in Kavango West and Andara in Kavango East. Deaths have also risen sharply, from 50 in 2024 to 154 this year, although no deaths have been reported in the past three months.
“These numbers are not just statistics,” Luvindao said at the World Malaria Day commemoration in the Zambezi region. She added, “They reflect lives lost, livelihoods disrupted, and communities under pressure. We must act swiftly and collectively to reverse this trend.”
The minister used the event to launch the 2025 IRS campaign, describing the method – spraying insecticide on the interior walls of homes to kill malaria-carrying mosquitoes -as “a critical malaria prevention strategy that protects entire communities, especially vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women.”
She urged all households in Namibia’s 10 malaria-endemic regions to cooperate with spraying teams and help achieve the national target of 85% coverage.
“Prevention is better than cure. Let’s all embrace indoor residual spraying to save lives,” she said.
This year’s national theme – “Strengthening Community Efforts Towards Eliminating Malaria” – underscores the role of behavioural change and unity.
Luvindao called on traditional leaders to mobilise residents, on youth to lead peer education, and on parents to seek early treatment for children showing symptoms.
“The end of malaria starts with us, with you, with me, with all of us working together. The enemy is not just the mosquito — it is also our own silence, inaction, and resistance to proven solutions,” Luvindao alluded.
The minister thanked partners, including the World Health Organisation, the Global Fund and SADC Elimination 8, and stressed the need for stronger cross-border surveillance to tackle imported cases.
“Let this commemoration be remembered not just as an event, but as a turning point. Together, we will protect every life in Namibia from malaria. Together, we will make malaria a thing of the past,” she said.
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