The Malawi government has established a goal to eliminate malaria, a main cause of death in the country, by 2030. Speaking during a televised launch of a nationwide anti-malaria drive dubbed as ‘Zero Malaria Starts with Me’ campaign, President Lazarus Chakwera said statistics on malaria infection in the country are troubling. Malaria, he claimed, was responsible for around 36% of all out-patient department patients and 15% of all hospital admissions in Malawi.
The president issued what he called ten commandments, which he said would aid in the prevention of the disease’s spread. These include eliminating all mosquito breeding areas, taking prescribed malaria treatment on schedule, and sleeping under a mosquito net.
Malawi was the first country in the world to incorporate the malaria vaccine into its childhood immunisation program in April 2019, followed by Ghana and Kenya.
Because of the large number of malaria cases and treatment facilities, the WHO chose Malawi, along with Ghana and Kenya, for a pilot phase that intends to vaccinate 360,000 children per year, and of whom 120,000 are in Malawi.
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