Burkina Faso/Fight against malaria: Journalists' help sought
On Thursday, April 20, 2023, an information and exchange meeting was held in Ouagadougou with media men and women on malaria. This meeting, organized by the permanent secretariat for the elimination of malaria with the financial support of Speak up Africa, was held as a prelude to the celebration of the World Malaria Day which takes place on April 25th of each year.
This year's celebration of World Malaria Day is held under the theme: "Time to Achieve Zero Malaria: Invest, Innovate, Implement".
This theme invites decision-makers in malaria-affected countries to be more aware of the need to reach marginalized populations with available tools and strategies. And in terms of strategies to fight malaria, Burkina Faso has several. These include prevention through intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnant women, chemoprevention of seasonal malaria in children aged 3 to 59 months, and vector control through intra-domestic spraying, and the use of insecticides.In spite of all these efforts, the burden of malaria on the health system remains high.
Despite all these efforts, the burden of malaria on the health system is still enormous. Dr. Christian Bernard Kompaoré, Permanent Secretary for Malaria Elimination, recalls that malaria is the leading cause of consultation, hospitalization and death in Burkina Faso. In 2021, the country recorded more than twelve million cases of malaria with 4,355 deaths.
Efforts are still needed to reach the goal of zero malaria by 2030.
And it is aware that the media play an important role in the fight against diseases, that the permanent secretariat has initiated this meeting to share with journalists, the situation, challenges and issues of control and elimination of malaria. The objective was to encourage their commitment to support the "Zero Malaria, I pledge! ".
Also with the aim of fighting this disease, the country plans to vaccinate children in 2024. To do this, the country should acquire one million doses of malaria vaccine.
Source: lefaso.net
