The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared Algeria free of malaria where it was first discovered. Algeria therefore becomes the third African country to eliminate one of the world’s leading killer diseases.Information available to us hinted that with no recorded cases of malaria in three consecutive years, Argentina was also declared malaria-free – the second country in the Americas after Paraguay in 45 years to wipe out the disease, which kills more than 400,000 people a year.
WHO’s regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, confirmed that Algeria “is where the malaria parasite was first discovered in humans almost a century and a half ago, and that was a significant milestone in responding to the disease.”
“Now, Algeria has shown the rest of Africa that malaria can be beaten through country leadership, bold action, sound investment and science. The rest of the continent can learn from this experience.”
Although WHO has declared 38 countries malaria-free since 1955, the fight against malaria has stalled as malaria-carrying mosquitoes have become resistant to drugs and insecticides in bednets that protect people from being bitten while sleeping.
Algeria is the third African nation to become malaria free, after Mauritius in 1973 and Morocco in 2010, which brings economic benefits, said Abdourahmane Diallo, head of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria.
“Malaria-free status provides external economic benefits … enabling them to free up resources to address other health and development priorities and improve worker productivity and school attendance,” he said.
Crisis-hit Venezuela is one of the countries that has seen a sharp rise in malaria cases as its health system collapses amid hyperinflation and recession.
In 2017, there were 406,000 cases of malaria in Venezuela, up roughly 69 percent from a year before, the largest increase worldwide, according to the WHO.
Source: Reuters
