'Let's close the gap in malaria prevention'

(Baonghean.vn) - This year, with the message "Let's close the gap in malaria prevention", the World Health Organization (WHO) focuses on prevention - an important strategy to reduce the number of cases and deaths from malaria - a disease that continues to kill more than 400,000 people each year.

Malaria is a disease caused by the malaria parasite (KST) transmitted from sick people to healthy people by mosquitoes. This is a common disease in the world in general and in our country in particular. According to the World Health Organization, each year there are from 350 million to 500 million people infected and more than 1 million people die from malaria (most of whom are children under 5 years old in African countries).

World Malaria Day (WMD) was established in May 2007 at the 60th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA).

In order to promote malaria prevention, reduce the number of cases and deaths, and reduce the burden of disease caused by malaria. At the 60th session, the World Health Organization unanimously chose April 25 as "World Malaria Day" with the aim of educating the community about malaria, raising awareness about the disease and methods of disease prevention.

From there, successfully implement the malaria control strategy through community-based activities, while disseminating to the community the achievements as well as the difficulties and challenges in the national malaria prevention and control.

Every 2 minutes malaria takes the life of an African child.

Since 2000, malaria prevention has played an important role in reducing malaria morbidity and mortality mainly through expanding coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS).

Across sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria is concentrated globally, large parts of the population are sleeping under ITNs. In 2015, an estimated 53% of the population at risk was protected by ITNs, compared with 30% in 2010. In 20 African countries, preventive treatment for pregnant women increased fivefold between 2010 and 2015.

According to the WHO World Malaria Report 2016, in 2015 there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429,000 deaths, a child dying from malaria every 2 minutes.

Billionaire Bill Gates has been funding many charity programs around the world, helping to prevent the disasters of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Expanding the scope of prevention is yielding positive results, with the latest WHO estimates showing that many countries with endemic malaria have seen a significant reduction in their malaria burden. Globally, new malaria cases fell by 21% between 2010 and 2015, and malaria mortality fell by 29% compared with the same period five years earlier.

This World Malaria Day, WHO calls on countries and partners to urgently improve access to life-saving prevention tools, focusing on coverage of proven core malaria prevention tools for vector control such as long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLINs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), and pregnancy-based preventive therapies for pregnant women, intermittent preventive treatment for newborns, and seasonal malaria chemotherapy.

Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) are the most effective malaria prevention tool available today.

These chemoprevention therapies are key elements of the WHO-recommended comprehensive malaria prevention and control package, which aims to prevent malaria by maintaining therapeutic drug levels in the blood during periods of greatest malaria risk.

Vietnam is a country with endemic malaria, nearly 30 million people are at risk of malaria. Although our malaria prevention efforts have achieved many encouraging results, malaria has been gradually controlled. In recent years, the incidence and mortality rate due to malaria have decreased by at least 5% compared to previous years, and no major malaria epidemics have occurred.

Mosquito nets, malaria prevention.

However, malaria prevention and control work is still facing many difficulties and challenges. Malaria is at risk of returning. The phenomenon of people moving to areas where malaria is endemic is difficult to control, socio-economic conditions are still difficult, especially in remote areas, knowledge about malaria prevention for themselves and their families is very limited, parasites have increased resistance to anti-malarial drugs, mosquitoes are resistant to chemicals, and medical staff in areas where malaria is not endemic or where malaria is low endemic have a negligent attitude towards malaria.... Therefore, it has created many difficulties for the malaria prevention and control system.

Kim Ngoc

(Synthetic)