Afrigather A complete of 43 international locations and 1 territory have now been licensed as malaria-free
Cabo Verde – The World Well being Group (WHO) has licensed Cabo Verde as a malaria-free nation, marking a major achievement in international well being. With this announcement, Cabo Verde joins the ranks of 43 international locations and 1 territory that WHO has awarded this certification.
Cabo Verde is the third nation to be licensed within the WHO African area, becoming a member of Mauritius and Algeria which have been licensed in 1973 and 2019 respectively. Malaria burden is the best on the African continent, which accounted for roughly 95% of worldwide malaria circumstances and 96% of associated deaths in 2021.
Certification of malaria elimination will drive optimistic growth on many fronts for Cabo Verde. Methods and constructions constructed for malaria elimination have strengthened the well being system and will likely be used to battle different mosquito-borne illnesses reminiscent of dengue fever. Travellers from non-malaria endemic areas can now journey to the islands of Cabo Verde with out concern of native malaria infections and the potential inconvenience of preventive therapy measures. This has the potential to draw extra guests and increase socio-economic actions in a rustic the place tourism accounts for roughly 25 per cent of GDP.
Frequently asked questions
Certification of Cabo Verde as eliminating malaria
“I salute the federal government and folks of Cabo Verde for his or her unwavering dedication and resilience of their journey to eliminating malaria,”
stated WHO Director-Basic Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“WHO’s certification of Cabo Verde being malaria-free is testomony to the facility of strategic public well being planning, collaboration, and sustained effort to guard and promote well being. Cabo Verde’s success is the newest within the international battle in opposition to malaria, and offers us hope that with current instruments, in addition to new ones together with vaccines, we will dare to dream of a malaria-free world.”
Certification of malaria elimination is the official recognition by WHO of a rustic’s malaria-free standing. The certification is granted when a rustic has proven – with rigorous, credible proof – that the chain of indigenous malaria transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes has been interrupted nationwide for at the least the previous three consecutive years. A rustic should additionally display the capability to forestall the re-establishment of transmission.
“The certification as a malaria-free nation has a big impact, and it is taken a very long time to get so far. By way of the nation’s exterior picture, this is excellent, each for tourism and for everybody else. The problem that Cabo Verde has overcome within the well being system is being recognised”,
stated the Cabo Verde´s Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva.
Cabo Verde, an archipelago of 10 islands within the Central Atlantic Ocean, has confronted important malaria challenges. Earlier than the Nineteen Fifties, all islands have been affected by malaria. Extreme epidemics have been common occurrences in probably the most densely populated areas till focused interventions have been applied. Via the focused use of insecticide spraying, the nation eradicated malaria twice: in 1967 and 1983. Nevertheless, subsequent lapses in vector management led to a return of the illness. For the reason that final peak of malaria circumstances within the late Eighties, malaria in Cabo Verde has been confined to 2 islands: Santiago and Boa Vista, which have now each been malaria-free since 2017.
“Cabo Verde’s achievement is a beacon of hope for the African Area and past. It demonstrates that with robust political will, efficient insurance policies, neighborhood engagement and multisectoral collaboration, malaria elimination is an achievable purpose,” stated Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “The attainment of this milestone by Cabo Verde is an inspiring instance for different nations to comply with.”
Cabo Verde’s journey to malaria elimination has been lengthy and acquired a lift with the inclusion of this goal in its nationwide well being coverage in 2007. A strategic malaria plan from 2009 to 2013 laid the groundwork for fulfillment, specializing in expanded prognosis, early and efficient therapy, and the reporting and investigating all circumstances. To stem the tide of imported circumstances from mainland Africa, prognosis and therapy have been offered freed from cost to worldwide travellers and migrants.
In 2017 the nation turned an outbreak into a possibility. Cabo Verde recognized issues and made enhancements, resulting in zero indigenous circumstances for 3 consecutive years.
In the course of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the nation safeguarded progress; efforts centered on bettering the standard and sustainability of vector management and malaria prognosis, strengthening malaria surveillance – particularly at ports, airports, within the capital metropolis and areas with a threat of malaria re-establishment.
Collaboration between the Ministry of Well being and varied authorities departments centered on the atmosphere, agriculture, transportation, tourism, and extra, performed a pivotal function in Cabo Verde’s success. The inter-ministerial fee for vector management, chaired by the Prime Minister was key to elimination. The collaborative effort and the dedication of community-based organizations and NGOs display the significance of a holistic method to public well being.
As Cabo Verde celebrates this monumental achievement, the worldwide neighborhood commends its leaders, healthcare professionals, and residents for his or her dedication to eliminating malaria and making a more healthy future for all.
Observe to the editor
WHO malaria-free certification
The ultimate determination on awarding a malaria-free certification rests with the WHO Director-Basic, based mostly on a advice by the unbiased Technical Advisory Group on Malaria Elimination and Certification. For extra on WHO’s malaria-free certification course of, visit this link.
Accomplice quotes:
“That is a unprecedented accomplishment, a beacon of hope at a time when local weather change threatens to decelerate our progress within the international battle in opposition to malaria. What’s now essential is that we don’t decrease our guard, and assist Cape Verde maintain this achievement and forestall reintroduction of malaria. With this intention in thoughts, we’ll proceed to fund vector management interventions and guarantee high quality case administration and illness surveillance by strengthening well being techniques for one more three years.”
Peter Sands, Government Director, International Fund
“Cabo Verde has confirmed that with the correct instruments, entry to care, improved case administration and surveillance, sustained funding, and engagement throughout sectors, international locations in Africa can obtain dramatic progress in opposition to malaria – and even remove it solely. Because the malaria neighborhood celebrates this victory, let it additionally function a name to motion for pressing, sustained efforts and collaboration within the pursuit of malaria eradication and a world the place nobody suffers from this illness once more.”
Philip Welkhoff, Director, Malaria Program, The Invoice & Melinda Gates Basis
“Cabo Verde’s achievement is a testomony to the perseverance of its folks and well being techniques, and demonstrates that with strategic planning, sustained funding, neighborhood engagement, and widescale implementation of preventative measures, the eradication of malaria is inside attain. This milestone isn’t solely a victory for Cabo Verde, but additionally for the worldwide neighborhood as we attempt to remove malaria worldwide. But, with international circumstances now 16 million larger than earlier than the pandemic, we should not waiver in our dedication to put money into, implement, and innovate new methods and instruments.”
Dr Michael Adekunle Charles, CEO, RBM Partnership to Finish Malaria
“Cabo Verde’s success in malaria elimination is an inspiration for the Asia Pacific Area the place a number of international locations are additionally on the cusp of elimination. This achievement is a residing instance which demonstrates what stays attainable in public well being, even amidst the difficult panorama of right this moment. Our heartfelt congratulations to our associates on this archipelago of the Central Atlantic for this momentous achievement; we stay up for international locations in Asia Pacific becoming a member of them in malaria free standing within the close to future.”
Dr Sarthak Das, CEO, Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance
