It is the third country in Africa to eradicate malaria. The WHO certified it on Friday 12 January: Cape Verde is now free of the disease that continues to wreak havoc on the continent. The World Health Organization sees this as a significant breakthrough in global health.
Published on:
2 minutes
The archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean had already eradicated the disease twice in 1967 and 1983. But, according to the WHO, subsequent errors caused it to backfire. Since the late 1980s, malaria has been limited to two islands: Santiago and Boa Vista.
In 2007, the country decided to make it a national health problem by creating a strategic plan for the period 2009/2013 with expanded diagnosis, earlier treatment and free care offered to foreigners. As a result, the islands of Santiago and Boa Vista managed to eradicate the disease.
The country received WHO certification because it provided evidence that the chain of household mosquito transmission had been interrupted at the national level for three years.
” Cape Verde’s success is a beacon of hope for the African region and beyond », welcomed the WHO Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, She points out “, according to her,” Eliminating malaria is an achievable goal with strong political will, effective policies, community engagement and multi-sector collaboration. ”
In the organization’s eyes, eradication is great news for the country’s future. ” This will attract more visitors and boost socio-economic activities in a country where tourism represents around 25% of GDP. », writes WHO in a press release.
This success, after others,We hope that, thanks to existing or new tools, especially vaccines, we can begin to dream of a world without malaria. », Director General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus adds. He handed over the certificate to Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulysses Correa e Silva in the capital Praia on Friday.
If WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he dreams of a world without malaria, the goal still seems a long way off. The disease killed 600,000 people worldwide in 2022, 95% of them in the African continent.
Also readMalaria: According to WHO, the number of deaths has decreased for the second year in a row
