Red Cross appeals for help to fight malaria

Close to two million Zimbabweans are at risk of contracting malaria, and the mortality rate is expected to rise due to the lack of basic anti-malarial drugs, the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) warned on Wednesday. Since March, malaria epidemics have broken out in nine districts in Zimbabwe with 97,885 reported cases and 164 deaths. "Serious, large-scale malaria epidemics in Zimbabwe are ongoing and there is a risk for spill-over into neighbouring Zambia after floods caused by cyclones Japhet and Kulede. The situation is particularly dangerous as it follows a period of drought, famine and malnutrition. Combined with a high prevalence of HIV infections, the overall immunity against malaria is considerably reduced," the IFRC said. The organisation added that preventative measures such as insecticide house-spraying could not be carried out this year and many health centres had run out of basic anti-malarial drugs. "A recent assessment conducted by the IFRC showed that the situation in Zimbabwe is getting worse and unless something is done urgently to get the necessary treatment to the clinics, the government may have a very serious situation to deal with. Drugs for the treatment of simple malaria are desperately needed. Many of the clinics are short of everything from basic drugs to insecticide treated mosquito nets," IFRC regional officer for Southern Africa, Richard Hunlede, told IRIN. He added that due to the increase in the number of malaria cases in Zimbabwe, the IFRC would include malaria treatment as part of its food security programme. Under the country's National Malaria Control Programme, US $90,000 worth of drugs have already been dispatched. However, there are no funds available to restart preventive measures and the distribution of mosquito nets, the IFRC said. The IFRC concerns come ahead of Africa Malaria Day on 25 April. In 2000, African heads of state from 44 malaria-endemic countries participated in the first-ever Africa Summit on Malaria, in Abuja, Nigeria. At the summit, the leaders signed the Abuja Declaration committing governments to halve the burden of malaria in Africa by 2010 and setting interim targets for the year 2005.