SADC launches anti-malaria plan

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Malaria Action Plan, which aims to reduce the effects of the disease in the region, was launched by South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe on Wednesday. Sapa reported that Tshabalala-Msimang launched the plan at the southern Africa malaria control annual meeting, where the main focus was to create measures to half the number of malaria deaths in southern Africa from 300,000 to 150,000 per year by the year 2010. Tshabalala-Msimang told delegates the plan was conceived because of fear of an outbreak in the region after last year’s heavy rains. “Ministers from the flood-affected countries, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, met in Maputo and established the malaria task team,” she said. “The team’s task was to advise on an emergency response to the malaria threat and to advise on regional co-operation to control the disease,” she was quoted saying. She said the ministers approved the plan at the annual health sector meeting in Botswana in April. The plan covered control of the health sector and insecticide resistance, surveillance, forecasting and epidemic preparedness, case management, drugs, insecticides, insecticide treated materials, operational research, community mobilisation and capacity building, the report said. The conference, organised by WHO’s Roll Back Malaria (RBM) initiative, would make plans for malaria control over the next five years, and would mobilise national, SADC and international resources to fight the disease.