April 24, 2008 - Malaria is a serious global problem affecting nearly 60 percent of the world’s population. Over 500 million people contract the disease each year, and about two million die. The disease exacts the heaviest toll in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially among pregnant women and children under the age of five.
Malaria is the most common cause of death in Burkina, and the main cause of hospitalization. Children and women are its most frequent victims. Malaria is transmitted through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, whose deadly Plasmodium Falciparam parasite accounts for about 98 percent of the cases in Burkina Faso.
In 2007, the country’s health care facilities recorded a total of 5,438,787 cases of malaria, according to the National Program for Malaria Prevention (PNLP). There were 11,955 deaths, for a lethality rate of 2.014 percent.
Among children from birth to age five, there were 2,613,514 cases of malaria. On average, each child in this age cohort was seen by a doctor or healthcare deliverer at least once for malaria. Deaths among children in this age category totaled 303,906, for a lethality rate of 2.988 percent. (Children of this age accounted for 48.05 percent of deaths, whereas they make up only 18.78 percent of the population.)
Cases among pregnant women totaled 154,123, of which 94 resulted in death.
Over half of the malaria cases and malaria-caused deaths occurred during the August – November time period, a high-risk season for transmission of the disease.
Renewed worldwide efforts to fight malaria
Apart from its destructive rates of morbidity and mortality, malaria represents a serious obstacle to the development of African countries.
The international community has made a particular effort over the past few years to mobilize a worldwide campaign against malaria. Several programs and initiatives have been developed.
The most significant of these include “Roll Back Malaria” (RBM), the Initiative of African Heads of State to Combat Malaria, the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria, the Malaria Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
In addition to these programs and initiatives, the traditional partners involved in health and development, such as the World Bank, the WHO, UNICEF and the UNDP, have stepped up their contributions to anti-malaria efforts.
The World Bank in particular has established a special, so-called ‘Booster Program’ to re-energize and strengthen malaria-fighting efforts in African countries. Burkina Faso is one of the beneficiaries of the Booster Program.
Fighting malaria in Burkina Faso
If malaria is to be kept under control, cases must be addressed quickly with effective drugs, human/mosquito contact must be minimized, and malarial conditions must be eliminated.
The main anti-malaria strategies are the following:
Treatment of sufferers with artemisinin derivatives;
Wide-scale distribution of mosquito nets impregnated with insecticides;
Outreach to local populations, encouraging them to seek medical care quickly, to use the treated mosquito nets, and to observe other anti-malarial procedures;
Environmental clean-up.
The Government has come to the realization that malaria is the disease responsible for the greatest number of doctor’s visits, hospitalizations and deaths. The PNLP, which is under the Ministry of Health, is charged with implementing the national anti-malaria policy at the countrywide level.
The Program is supported by local partnerships (involving healthcare services, technical departments of the ministry, research centers and universities, NGOs, associations, etc.), as well as by bilateral and multilateral international partnerships (WHO, World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, etc.). The PNLP is still hampered by structural and budgetary shortcomings, however, that prevent it from being as effective as had been hoped.
The World Bank’s contribution
The World Bank is firmly committed to helping Burkina Faso wage an effective battle against malaria. Under the Booster Program, Burkina Faso has received a loan of US$12 million for the 2006-2009 period.
This loan will enable the country to purchase nearly four million doses of effective drugs for the treatment of children aged 0 to 5 years, and 1.2 million specially treated mosquito nets. A portion of the loan has been used to enhance the efficacy of the PNLP, an effort that is still ongoing. The World Bank’s intervention also includes technical assistance provided by experts and consultants. The Bank is also in constant contact with the Government for any assistance that may be needed.
Contributed by Lionel Yaro, World Bank Burkina Faso
Among children from birth to age five, there were 2,613,514 cases of malaria. On average, each child in this age cohort was seen by a doctor or healthcare deliverer at least once for malaria. Deaths among children in this age category totaled 303,906, for a lethality rate of 2.988 percent. (Children of this age accounted for 48.05 percent of deaths, whereas they make up only 18.78 percent of the population.)
The main anti-malaria strategies are the following:
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