Member states of the SADC have realised the urgency with which malaria needs to be tackled and the day will be used to promote best practices in combating the disease.
The event, to be attended by Deputy Health Minister Molefi Sefularo, forms part of an annual meeting of SADC health ministers where health issues affecting the region are discussed.
Sefularo is expected to address the community about the impact of Malaria in South Africa and houses in the area will be sprayed with DDT pesticide.
About 14 000 cases of malaria are reported in South Africa each year, mainly in the lowveld areas of Mpumalanga and Limpopo and the Eastern parts of KwaZulu-Natal. More than one million people die every year of Malaria, mostly infants, young children and pregnant women in Africa.
In July, World Health Organisation representative, Olusegun Babaniyi said malaria has kept poor people poor, saying that it consumes 25 percent of household incomes.
According to WHO, the African continent is loosing up to $12 billion per year of its Gross Domestic Product in scaling up malaria intervention programs.
Symptoms of malaria include fever, vomiting, nausea and headaches. The symptoms usually appear 10 to 15 days after being bitten by the female Anopheles mosquito.
Article published courtesy of BuaNews
