Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The health authorities in South Sudan yesterday joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Malaria Day. It is always celebrated each year on April 25 to underscore the collective effort and commitment of the global malaria community to make the world free of malaria.
While many countries have led a massive effort to control the disease in the last two years, beginning in 2019, unfortunately, right after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the effort slowed down. Today, malaria remains a major health problem in most countries, including South Sudan.
The peak period of transmission is during the rainy season, mainly from April to October (2). P. falciparum is the dominant species of parasite and is responsible for more than 90 per cent of the cases in South Sudan, according to South Sudan Medical Journal.
Several people have been complaining of severe malaria, and some often undergo treatment every month and yet do not get cured. This is mainly because the parasites in their bodies have become resistant to the drugs they are using, or they are getting the wrong treatments that are not able to fight the type of parasites they have.
It is very common in the country that people are given drugs after diagnosis without determining the type of parasites they have. In proper malaria treatment, the doctor is supposed to determine which type of malaria parasite is causing the symptoms or if the infection is caused by a parasite resistant to certain drugs. The doctor must prescribe drugs that can kill the parasite by matching the drugs with the type of malaria parasite the patient has.
Nevertheless, this is not the case in South Sudan. In public or private health units, people are just treated with any anti-malaria drug without verifying the type of malaria parasites in their bodies.
There is a need for action, and the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health need to check all the malaria drugs being used in the country. Some of those drugs have not proven useful in malaria treatment.
There is a need to step up innovation in the fight against malaria as well as expand the use of the malaria vaccine launched last year. There should be equal access to better health services. To prevent the spread of the disease, the use of treated mosquito nets should be encouraged, particularly in rural and remote areas.
Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite whose life cycle is in the Anopheles mosquito and humans. It is transmitted to humans by female anopheles mosquitoes that bite mainly at night. So, you must always sleep under a mosquito net.
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