As every year, this Monday, November 30, the WHO publishes its report on the development of the malaria pandemic in the world. And if some progress is observed, the pace is far from sufficient to reach the end of the disease by 2030, which is the goal. In addition to the usual difficulties, such as chronic lack of funding, Covid-19 was added this year, disrupting programs, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With almost 22,000 cases in 2019, the malaria epidemic continues to grow in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Of course, it kills less, and care improves. But almost 10,000 children under 5 died from it. They alone make up three quarters of the victims.
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Mainly involved: difficulties in supplying impregnated mosquito nets, the cornerstone of prevention campaigns. Their delivery to households was even more complicated this year, due to Covid-19. Joris Losimba Likwela is responsible for a distribution program for NGO SANRU Asbl.
“In 2020, 59 million inhabitants were waiting to get their mosquito net. From one day to the next it had become complicated to move on. We had to examine the campaign organization strategy completely, from distributing in fixed locations to door-to-door distributions to avoid the crowds that could be vectors of Covid-19 transmission. This slows down the process that started again around September-October for households waiting for the mosquito net, he explains.
This delayed transport should be compensated for during the first quarter of 2021. But it raises concerns about excess mortality next year.
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