Malaria deaths have declined, says Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health says the number of people dying from malaria has declined from estimated 6.1 million in 2016 and 4.2 million in 2022.

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This has been attributed to interventions the government and its partners have put across the country to protect people from the disease.

Speaking in Lilongwe during the commemoration for the SADC Malaria Week, which dwells on the theme “Resilient health system and communities key to malaria elimination and the slogan was:’timely access to malaria services, everyone’s right’. the Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said it was exciting that malaria deaths have also reduced.

She indicated that malaria contributes 19% of all Out-patient Department (OPD) visits and 9%of all admissions creating a huge workload to Health workers and pressure on drugs in health facilities .

Chiponda also explained that in Malawi,malaria is kiling 5 people everyday mostly under-five children and pregnant women.

The message from these figures is that in the World Health Organization (WHO)African region including the SADC region and in this country Malawi malaria remains a huge public health problem and it is taking a health toll on health systems, weakening productivity of citizens thereby reducing economic growth at both household and national level causing economic stagnation in the region and loss of life in the SADC Region and in this country.”am happy to report that in line with this year’s theme we have endorsed the Malawi Malaria Eliminate strategy with the goal of eliminating malaria by 2030″ She said.

The ministry of health has also applauded the commitment of health workers in this country for their hard work in saving lives despite the covid 19 pandemic threat, they have also appeal to donors and partners to step up the support to country efforts to accelerate the malaria elimination.