WHO says malaria still a major challenge in Africa

from All Africa

An official from the WHO talks about the challenges in getting quick malaria diagnosis in Africa. - Kale

BuaNews (Tshwane)

The African continent is loosing up to $12 billion per year of its Gross Domestic Product in scaling up malaria intervention programs, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

WHO country representative, Olusegun Babaniyi said malaria remains a global threat to the attainment of social-economic targets, with three million and more cases and an estimated one million deaths annually.

Dr Babaniyi was speaking on Monday at the official opening of the Eastern and Southern Africa Annual Review and Planning Malaria Meeting, themed "Improving Malaria Diagnosis".

The theme of the meeting is timely, he said, adding that it serves as a reminder of the need for African countries to pay attention to diagnosis in order to eradicate poverty.

He said malaria has kept the poor people poorer, adding that it is consuming 25 percent of household incomes.

Dr Babaniyi also emphasised the need for countries to improve the health provider's confidence in malaria diagnostic results.

"The prompt use of microscopic examination in the diagnosis of malaria is vital, as it aids the management of the diseases by confirming clinical suspicion which also saves money and reduces evolution of drug resistance."

The lack of confidence, he said, in the diagnostic results by health providers emanates from limited trust in the quality of diagnostic services.

"It is for this reason that the WHO has developed a comprehensive manual on quality of microscopy and other diagnostic techniques in an effort to strengthen quality assurance and quality control in malaria diagnosis among countries," Dr Babaniyi said.

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