Congo/ Health: students learn about malaria
On April 23, the Malaria and Medical Entomology Research Unit of the Institut national de recherche en sciences de la santé (Irssa) organized a malaria awareness campaign at the Faculty of Law.
The campaign brought together students, researchers and teacher-researchers in the run-up to International Malaria Day, celebrated worldwide on April 25. This year's theme is "Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world".
The overall aim of the campaign is to raise student awareness of all aspects of malaria, and to share the results of the Institute's research. These include identifying the various disease vectors and means of prevention, reporting on the epidemiology of malaria, deThe prevalence of malaria infections in Dzoumouna, the link between malaria and sickle cell disease, and the use of plants to treat malaria.
The meeting was marked by communication sessions with several sub-themes: sickle cell disease and malaria, malaria: vectors and prevention, malaria epidemiology, positive diagnosis of malaria, current malaria treatments. The lectures provided students with knowledge on the definition of the disease, parasite species, modes of transmission and prevention, and the biological diagnosis of malaria.
To this end, the speakers gave the prevalence rate of malaria worldwide, in Africa and at national level. According to the World Health Organization report, worldwide, 249 million cases of malaria were recorded in 2022, with 608,000 deaths.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 233 million, or 94% of malaria cases, with 580,000 deaths. As for the Congo, malaria is endemic and remains the most important parasitic pathology. 522,266 cases of malaria were recorded in 2022 in all the country's health structures. "In the fight against malaria, remarkable therapeutic progress has been made. However, the battle is not yet won, as malaria remains the leading cause of infant mortality", they declared. At the same time, they urged the community to respect preventive measures, clean up the environment and seek advice from health centers rather than self-medicating.
At the end of the screening, Russia Madg-Doung, a student at the Faculty of Law, appreciated IRSSA's initiative in organizing the malaria campaign, the first of its kind. The various presentations enabled him to understand certain things that are ignored in practice, such as the consequences of self-medication, the combined use of herbal treatments and modern medicines. Today, I learned that the high rate of infant mortality in our hospitals is due to malaria, " he said, adding "I would like to see ongoing awareness-raising campaigns to educate us about many diseases, such as HIV-AIDS ".
Source: www.adiac-congo.com
