APPROACHES TO CONTROL MALARIA

APPROACHES TO CONTROL MALARIA — 

By Dr. Antônio Henriques 

Strategies to disrupt malaria transmission include effective deployment of antimalarial drugs, personal mosquito protection, mosquito vector control, and research (including vaccine development). 

Optimal malaria control (eg, leading to elimination) using these tools requires the following elements of the new World Health Organization (WHO) Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016 to 2030. 

In addition to acceleration of elimination, country and community ownership, improved surveillance, equity in health services, and innovation in tools and implementation, the technical foci are:


- Effective human, parasitologic, and entomologic surveillance at health facilities and in communities

- An understanding of local Anopheline ecology (including breeding, biting, and resting habits)

- Administrative, managerial, supervisory, and operational capacity (including trained leaders and staff)

- An ongoing monitoring and evaluation system for deployment and use of drugs, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), and environmental modifications

- Sustained high-level, long-term national and international commitment

In 2008, the WHO divided 104 malarious countries into three groups: 25 countries that have recently eliminated malaria or with conditions amenable to elimination, 32 countries with unstable malaria amenable to control and elimination with current tools, and 47 countries with stable transmission and poor infrastructure (eg, requiring further infrastructure development before additional measures can be implemented). 

Burúndi is, unfortunately, in the third group. 

But it's one of the reasons why OUFA is being created. Let's work  on it.