Abidjan, 02 Dec 2022 (AIP)- The head of the infectious and tropical diseases department (SMIT), Dr Serge Eholié, advocates popularization of the malaria vaccine to better fight against the disease and eradicate it definitively in Africa where it is the first cause of consultations with a higher risk of death in children under five and in pregnant women
Dr Eholié made this proposal during a panel on the theme “what should be done to achieve the zero malaria objective”, organized on Thursday, December 01, 2022 during the Africa health expo 2022 exhibition.
He said that two new innovative strategies have been adopted by the government, namely the integration of chemoprophylaxis and intermittent preventive treatment (IPTI) in infants.
The head of the SMIT department, however, indicated that the first tool for preventing malaria is protection with an impregnated mosquito net.
The person in charge of the malaria and neglected tropical diseases program at the office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Côte d’Ivoire, Raphaël N’goran N’dri, abounded in the same vein by proposing to make the vaccine a addition to existing methods.
According to him, African countries such as Algeria and Morocco have managed to eliminate the disease without resorting to the vaccine.
The president of the apex of health organizations in Côte d’Ivoire, Solange Koné, for her part advised to put in place effective sanitation systems. For her, it is more than necessary to integrate the communities themselves so that they feel concerned by the fight against malaria.
The number of deaths due to malaria fell from 3,222 in 2017 to 1,316 in 2020. That is a mortality rate down by around 50%. The incidence in children under five years old has increased from 594.75 per 1,000 in 2019 to 440 per 1,000 in 2020, according to a report by the National Malaria Control Policy (PNLP).
(AIP)
dds/tad/ask