Experts to discuss anti-malaria innovations
Innovative methods to fight malaria will be explored at an upcoming gathering of health experts from the public and private sector, to be hosted in Durban.
The National Malaria Conference, scheduled to take place from 12 - 14 June 2007, will explore the theme: Innovative malaria control through research and dynamic policy.
The conference, held jointly by the national Department of Health and its provincial branch in KwaZulu-Natal, will bring researchers from the public and the private sector as well as representatives from the Southern African Development Community.
Key issues on the agenda include vector control, health promotion, case management, disease surveillance plans and response.
The conference will also identify key research areas that can further enrich South Africa's malaria control policy.
In South Africa one of the outcomes of the national Department of Health's programme of action is to reduce malaria cases by 10% per year.
The government is spraying households in affected areas with the insecticide Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane. DDT is sprayed on the inside walls and under the eaves of houses.
Some countries have banned the poison, however, which has been shown to be highly toxic to aquatic life and also affected birds and mammals.
There were also concerns that it may cause breast cancer in women.
South Africa initially removed DDT from its malaria control programme in 1996, but reintroduced it in 2000 following a surge in malaria cases - a move supported by the World Health Organisation.
Statistics and general information
In KwaZulu-Natal alone, malaria increased from 8,000 cases in 1996 to almost 42,000 in 2000. The number of deaths rose from 20 to more than 340 in the same period.
However, the incidence of malaria in Mpumalanga has plummeted from nearly 13,000 cases reported in the year 2000, to just under 2,000 cases in 2006.
An estimated 1.5 million people worldwide die from the disease every year and more than 80% of malaria cases occur in tropical Africa.
It is transmitted to human beings by the bite of a female anopheles mosquito that is infected with the malaria parasite.
Early symptoms include flu-like symptoms such as headache, fever, joint pain and chills. Malaria can cause kidney or liver failure, coma and even death if not treated in time.
There is no vaccine for malaria, but people can prevent getting the disease by taking anti-malaria drugs and avoiding mosquito bites.
Article published courtesy of BuaNews
