By Omar Faye
With funding from United States Agency for International Development and the Human Resources for Health 2030, the Gambia and Senegal today Monday launched cross border campaign to fight malaria in the two countries by distribution over 11 million of bed net,
Gambian minister of health Dr. Muhammed Lamin Samateh described malaria as the leading cause of death in most of countries especially children and pregnant women.
According to him the objective of the campaign is to eliminate malaria in the two countries and achieve the millennium development goal 2030.
“Studies conducted by the Medical Research Council in The Gambia and the National Malaria Control Program reveal that there is a general decline in Malaria by about 50%. Admission due to malaria in hospitals and health facility has drop by 74% and deaths attributed to malaria have drop by 90%.
Furthermore, malaria controls parasite prevalence from 4% in 2011 to 0.2% in 2014. More significantly, the malaria prevalence had declined even further to 0.1% in 2017”, said the health minister.
Carla Fajardo Catholic Relief Service country representative for The Gambia and Senegal commended the two countries fight against malaria and standardized data collection in both sites of the border.
Nicolas Cantav United States Agency for international Development Representative said the US with support from the global fund and other partners is committed to intensify efforts to end malaria for good.
“We are proud to support this cross border malaria control activity. We commend the bold and insightful decision of both countries on this campaign”