Malaria cases increase - report

What you need to know:

  • Statistics. According to the World Health Organisation report, Uganda accounts for 4 per cent of malaria cases in the whole world.

Kampala. Uganda registered an estimated increase of more than 100,000 malaria cases between 2016 and 2017 despite the various preventive interventions against the disease, the World Malaria Report 2018 reveals.
The findings come as a shocker owing to the fact that government last year alone distributed approximately 24 million mosquito nets nationwide in addition to Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) which involves application of insecticides to the inside of dwellings
The country also accounts for 4 per cent of malaria cases in the whole world, making it to the top five countries responsible for nearly half of all malaria cases worldwide. Other countries are Nigeria, DRC Congo, Mozambique, and India
“Five countries accounted for nearly half of all malaria cases worldwide: Nigeria (25 per cent), Democratic Republic of the Congo (11 per cent), Mozambique (5 per cent), India (4 per cent) and Uganda (4 per cent),” the report reads in part.
The country is also listed among those in which total malaria cases exceeded 300,000 with an estimated death rate of 3 per cent
The figures contained in the WHO’s 11th world malaria report also indicate Rwanda in East Africa has noted a reduction in its malaria burden, with 430,000 fewer cases in 2017 than in 2016.
Commenting on the report findings, Dr Jimmy Opigo, the head of Malaria department at Ministry of Health, said it is not news given the rising population in the country in addition to the influx of refugees in the past years.
“Yes, there is a rise in the cases, but for us it is good news. There is no reverse given the rise in the country’s population,” Dr Opigo said in a telephone interview yesterday.
He added that government puts one million people diagnosed with the disease on medication annually.

Intervention
As an intervention, Dr Opigo indicated that government is targeting to cut the 5,100 malaria death cases reported last year by one third.
“We have also reduced drug stock-out. I think you now realise that they no longer exist,” he said.
The latest Uganda Malaria Indicator Survey 2014-15 had indicated that the national malaria prevalence dropped from 42 per cent in 2009 to 19 per cent, attributing the sharp fall in malaria prevalence rates to various government interventions.