World Malaria Day, 25th April

24 April, 2022

25th April is World Malaria Day. Here are extracts from an editorial in the African Journal of Reproductive Health

https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/issue/view/20605

'Most importantly is the need to involve communities as co-owners of malaria control measures... With communities having their own notions of disease causation based on cultural experiences, any interventions that fail to provide rationale for use of modern or alternate measures by community constituents would likely be unsuccessful. In consequence, we recommend that interventions that address malaria in African communities must find ways to create awareness on disease causation and risk factors... We strongly believe that the adoption of community-centred approaches holds the key to the eradication of malaria in sub-Saharan African countries...

'With pervading poverty and illiteracy, communities are unable to come to terms with the realistic and effective methods for preventing and managing the disease, a factor that then tend to expedite the disease prevalence. We recommend a sustainable preventative policy on malaria in Africa that is anchored on high level political commitment, integrated development, increased domestic funding, the training/re-training of healthcare workers and researchers, and sustained community mobilization/engagement and partnership.'

Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org

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