Mangochi registers 66% drop in malaria incidence thanks to World Vision Malawi project
Mangochi has registered a 66 percent drop in malaria incidence over the past five months, thanks to the implementation of an in-door residual spraying (IRS) project in the district.
World Vision Malawi is implementing the IRS project with a grant from the Global Fund through the Ministry of Health and Population.
The objective of the project was to contribute to government’s goal of reducing the burden of malaria in at-risk population in Malawi.
The Mangochi IRS project implementation profile for May 2020 indicates that there has been a significant decline in malaria prevalence in the district since the programme rolled out.
World Vision Malawi Chief of Party Alexander Chikonga said in an interview with Nyasa Times that the IRS project conducted a number of activities to achieve its objectives.
The activities included geographical mapping and registering of structures, capacity building trainings and orientations, and environmental compliance related activities.
“At the end, the project sprayed 266,086 structures out of the 279,171 sprayable structures found in the district. This represented a coverage of 95 percent,” said Chikonga.
He added that the project protected 1, 014, 763 residents, including 201, 931 children under five years of age and 23, 766 pregnant women.
It also project trained 2, 554 individuals to deliver IRS interventions in various capacities.
“We used multichannel communication approaches including publications, mass media, and advocacy and community dialogue sessions to increase the community acceptance of the initiative. That’s why at the end of the day, the project exceeded its target of covering 90 percent of structures found by achieving 95 percent coverage,” Chikonga explained.
Mangochi District Environmental Health Officer (Deho), Dr. Kondwani Mamba, said malaria has been an endemic disease in Mangochi, contributing to loss of many lives in a year.
Mamba said previously, the malaria attack rate used to hover around 40 to 50 percent of the patients they treated through the out-patient department (OPD).
“It’s an endemic disease in the sense that we have high numbers of people who are suffering from the disease. It’s a public health issue for this district. However, we registered a steady drop in the number of patients being diagnosed with the disease since last year when the spraying took place,” he said.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :