In a remarkable public health achievement, Cabo Verde, a Sub-Saharan African nation has been declared malaria-free for the first time in 50 years.
This certification which was was granted by the the World Health Organization (WHO) is granted when a country proves that it has interrupted indigenous transmission of the disease for at least three consecutive years.
“This is an extraordinary accomplishment, a beacon of hope at a time when climate change threatens to slow down our progress in the global fight against malaria,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund.
“What’s now crucial is that we do not lower our guard, and that we help Cabo Verde sustain this achievement and prevent the reintroduction of malaria. With this aim in mind, we will continue to fund vector control interventions and ensure quality case management and disease surveillance for another three years.”
Cabo Verde has not detected any indigenous malaria cases since January 2018, making it join the ranks of 43 countries and 1 territory that WHO has awarded this certification.
Cabo Verde is the third country to be certified in the WHO African region, joining Mauritius and Algeria which were certified in 1973 and 2019 respectively.
Malaria burden is the highest on the African continent, which accounted for approximately 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of related deaths in 2021. It is a huge killer on the continent.
In 2022, 580,000 people in Africa died from the disease, amounting to 95% of fatalities worldwide.
Cabo Verde’s success “gives us hope that with existing tools, as well as new ones including vaccines, we can dare to dream of a malaria-free world”, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
|News Sources
