Africa-Press – Tanzania. KAGERA Region recorded impressive performance against malaria through various interventions including providing vaccinations to children and distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) to the people, it has been disclosed.
According to the National Malaria Health Survey (NMHS), Malaria prevalence in Kagera region has been considerably reduced from 41.1 per cent during 2016 to 15.4 per cent last year.
However, more efforts were still needed to ensure that malaria is completely eliminated.
Kagera Regional Commissioner (RC) Major Gen Charles Mbuge attributed the success due to various interventions taken including providing timely and routine vaccinations to children and the distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN), among others.
“The government was keen to save the lives of poor Tanzanians through construction of health facilities. We must ensure that malaria is totally eliminated. This is possible and a duty for all us….everyone should play his/her part in this important exercise,” he said.
Adding….continous efforts were being taken to educate people on the importance of providing timely and routine vaccinations to children and the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN).
Between November 2017 to November, last year over 2million Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) were distributed to various vulnerable groups. At least 1,401,842 ITN were distributed to primary school pupils. 402,110 to pregnant women and 346,416 to children.
Kagera region with a population of 3.2 million (2012 Population Census Projections) has a total of 336 Health Facilities including 17 hospitals (five are government owned), 38 Health Centres and 281 Dispensaries.
This is equivalent of 42 per cent of the national average which requires each village in the country to have its own dispensary.
Major Gen Mbuge appealed to residents in the region to ensure that pregnant women attend clinic reguraly to get necessary medical conselling.
“Better health of a population is central to the development of a nation since a healthy population lives longer and is more productive and contributing more to a nation’s economy.
Effective public health system from the grassroots level are important in providing care for the sick and putting in place measures that promote preventive services of diseases,” he said.
In spite of the fact that various efforts have been made to extend primary health care coverage, particularly in rural areas, the scarcity of economic resources impedes the implementation of many health programmes.
In Tanzania, more than 80 per cent malaria cases are linked to infection with Plasmodium falciparum. The species is dangerous for pregnant woman as it typically invades large numbers of erythrocytes, causing severe anemia, which is crucial in pregnancy.
Data shows that lack of affordable, quality health care continues to trap many in poverty. Globally, as many as 100 million people a year are pushed into poverty due to high health care costs and about 30 per cent of households in Africa and Asia have to borrow money or sell assets to pay for health.
Kagera residents have hailed the rollout of the first malaria vaccine, with high hopes that the ancient and terrible disease could finally be under control.
Henry Bin’Omugabi (79), a retired medical doctor resident of Nshamba village, in Muleba district explained that the vaccine could save tens of thousands of children’s lives each year across Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO), has recommended the widespread rollout of the first malaria vaccine, in a move experts hope could save tens of thousands of children’s lives each year across Africa.
Hailing ‘an historic day’, the WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that after a succesfull pilot programme in three African countries the R.T.S,S vaccine should be made available more widely.
The R.T.S, S vaccine, also known as Mosquirix, was developed by the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and has been administered to more than 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi since the pilot programme began in 2019.
In 2019, about 409,000 people died from the mosquito-borne parasite disease, most of them in Africa. More than 270,000 of the victims were children under five.
