Kinshasa, April 26th, 2021 (CPA).- The outgoing Minister of Health, Dr. Eteni Longondo declared on Sunday at the Kempeski Fleuve Congo hotel in Kinshasa that the goal of World Malaria Day is to publicize and understand this disease and provide information on sustained implementation throughout the year of national malaria control strategies, including community-based malaria prevention and treatment activities in endemic areas. He said so during the nationwide celebration of World Malaria Day under the theme « Zero Malaria-Draw the Line in Malaria » commemorated on April 25th each year. Minister Eteni Longondo congratulated and thanked the technical and financial support partners who are accompanying the DRC in this long struggle. Also, he recognized the historic progress made worldwide in the fight against this endemic by saving millions of lives. However, half the planet is still at risk of contracting this preventable and treatable disease, which takes the life of a child every two minutes. The Minister of Health indicated that the DRC is committed to drawing a final line on malaria and providing future generations with a malaria-free Congo. Also, he indicated that the government, with the support of its partners, has made enormous progress, including reduced mortality, financial resources mobilized, providers trained, inputs available including the long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito net ( MIILDA), drugs, without forgetting the political will. The delegate of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Bakary Sambou explained that the theme “Zero malaria-Draw a line in malaria” was chosen for this year’s edition on the premise that every case is preventable, and every malaria-related death is unacceptable. In 2019, the WHO African region concentrated 94% of 229 million cases and 409,000 deaths attributable to the disease. There has, however, been significant progress made in the malaria response across the African region.
From 2000 to 2019, the incidence of malaria fell by 29% and the number of deaths fell by 60%. More than 1.2 billion cases and 7.1 million deaths have been prevented in this region. According to the director of the National Malaria Control Program (PNLP), Dr. Eric Mukomena Sompwe, the challenge related to malaria in the DRC is still immense given the increase in the number of cases and prevention which still remains low. . This is how he calls on the population to soak up household sanitation and the use of the long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito net (LLIN). The fight against malaria, he said, is not only medical, but it must be multisectoral because housing, environment and education all have a say in finally defeating this disease definitively.
