A doctor shows ethnic minority people in the border commune of Dan Hoa, Tuyen Hoa district, Quang Binh in central Vietnam how to prevent malaria. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has been
making great strides to move from malaria control towards elimination of the
disease, but increasing malaria in is threatening the
country’s overall progress.
According to the World Malaria Report
2017 by the World Health Organisation, the global progress against malaria
appeared to have stalled after many years of great public health achievements
in response to the disease.
In 2016, 91 countries reported a total
of 216 million cases of malaria, an increase of 5 million cases over the
previous year. The global tally of malaria deaths reached 445 000 deaths, about
the same number reported in 2015. Although malaria case incidence has fallen
globally since 2010, the rate of decline has stalled and even reversed in some
regions since 2014, the report said. Without urgent action, countries risk
going backwards and missing the global malaria targets for 2020 and beyond.
Vietnam’s National Institute of
Malariology Parasitology and Entomology estimated that an average of 30,000
people were infected by malaria virus in Vietnam annually, 100 out of which
suffered from malignant malaria and about ten died.
In 2017, the number of malaria cases
dropped by 35.4 percent from 2016. The Central Highlands remained the country’s
hardest hit region which accounted for almost half of the cases.
In the first 14 weeks of 2018, Vietnam
reported over 1,700 malaria cases, up 7.45 percent from the same period last
year, with the Central Highlands and southern Binh Phuoc provinces carrying the
majority of the national malaria burden, according to the Ministry of Health
(MoH).
Binh Phuoc was the country’s most
heavily-affected province with 738 malaria cases, up 70 percent from the same
period of 2017. Meanwhile, faster growth was also seen in the Central Highlands
province of Gia Lai where 201 people contracted the malaria virus, a 2.3-fold
surge year on year. The neighbouring Dak Lak and Dak Nong reported 89 and 78
cases, representing 1.6-fold and 0.3-fold increases, respectively.
Malaria occurred mostly in disadvantaged
areas where people know very little about how to prevent the disease, said the
MoH’s Department of Preventive Medicine. Impacts of climate change which fuel
the spread of mosquito-borne diseases and anti-malarial drug resistance
alongside lack of responsibility from local authority have caused severe
malaria outbreaks in areas where malaria control efforts are not sustainable.
In addition, public budget for has declined sharply in recent
years.
In response to this, the Department of
Preventive Medicine has sent an inter-sectorial team to inspect and supervise
control work in hot-spots in Binh Phuoc, said head of the department
Tran Dac Phu. At the same time, the National Institute of Malariology
Parasitology and Entomology has worked with the local health authority to
provide the province with technical support and effective measures on malaria
control, he added.
The department plans to raise awareness
of malaria prevention among people in the hot-spots, particularly high-risk
groups like seasonal workers, farmers who stay in fields in the forest,
forestry workers and forest managers in the time ahead. It will also provide
drugs for these people and ensure they will get access to early diagnostic and
treatment services.
This year’s World Malaria Day, April 25,
is being celebrated under the theme “Ready to beat malaria”
which aims to promote the commitment of the global community in uniting around
the common goal of a world free of malaria.
Vietnam has adopted a national strategy on malaria prevention and
elimination for the 2011 – 2020 period with a vision towards 2030. It aims to ensure that all
people have better access to early diagnosis and prompt and effective treatment
at public and private health facilities and to ensure the full protection for
people at risk of malaria by appropriate malaria control measures.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
