PADOVA – World Malaria Day is celebrated around the world on 25 April, with 94% of global cases recorded in Africa. 608,000 people died from malaria in 2022. More than 2 people per minute. These are the numbers of a “conflict” that no one sees and that no one talks about, but which takes place silently, every day. According to WHO data, children under the age of 5 belonging to the poorest families in the sub-Saharan area are 5 times more likely to be infected with malaria than children from the richest families.
The role of Medici con l’Africa Cuamm. In all the countries in which the NGO operates, at every level, from hospitals to health centers, to the most remote villages, it is committed to making its contribution to the process of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria. In 2023 alone, in 6 of the 8 countries in which CUAMM operates (in Ethiopia, Central Africa, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) 1,710,533 cases were diagnosed, of which 635,663 were children under five years of age. «Every day we meet dozens of malaria patients in the areas in which we operate – underlines Don Dante Carraro, director of Doctors with Africa –. We know almost everything about malaria, but sometimes there are enormous obstacles to overcome. Sometimes patients arrive at the hospital too late, sometimes classical therapy is not enough. There are cases in which treatment drugs are not enough to save a life: unfortunately this especially happens for children who suffer from malnutrition because their immune system does not react like that of a healthy person from a nutritional point of view. And in the African context, in which we operate, 50% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
Malaria worsens an already difficult situation. CUAMM is committed to the treatment and diagnosis of malaria, but it is also essential to intervene in prevention, as we are doing in Uganda and South Sudan for example.”
In Uganda
During 2023, 716,903 cases of malaria were diagnosed in the country, of which 99% were confirmed by laboratory tests. However, there are 224,956 confirmed cases of children under the age of five with this disease. In addition to diagnosing and treating malaria, CUAMM is engaged in awareness-raising and prevention interventions, particularly in the districts of Oyam and Kolo (Lango region) which are among the most severely affected by the epidemic. In these areas we promote the creation of “smart homes”, i.e. homes in which a series of functional measures are adopted to limit the proliferation of Anopheles mosquitoes. Mosquito nets, long-lasting repellent spray, always covered containers of water and the cultivation of a local plant that repels insects are small but functional measures that make a home “intelligent” and which, as demonstrated, allow us to prevent the spread of the disease .
Support for prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, in Kampala, as part of the project “ERASE – Rise against malaria project – Support for malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic? supported by AICS, research on malaria during pregnancy and drug resistance was presented. Conducted by Doctors with Africa and the University of Bari Aldo Moro, it made it possible to strengthen malaria prevention and control practices in communities, improving the quality of health services at community level and in health facilities also in the Oyam districts and Kole.
In Sud Sudan
In South Sudan, the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria are part of the routine interventions that CUAMM carries out across the board, from communities to hospitals via health facilities. In 2023, CUAMM treated 528,956 cases of malaria, of which 167,328 cases were children under the age of five.
Cases on the agenda. «Cases of malaria are commonplace here. At the moment the majority of patients are followed in the clinic and then continue the treatment at home – explains Sofia Pettenuzzo, a specialist in infectious diseases, who is currently at the Lui Hospital with CUAMM –. Now, however, with the start of the rainy season there is concern about the increase in cases, especially in children. Every year, in the month of May, hospitalizations for severe malaria increase in children, who are those who have the worst outcomes and the most important clinical manifestations.”
What is doctors with Africa CUAMM. Founded in 1950, Doctors with Africa CUAMM is the first NGO in the healthcare field recognized in Italy and the largest Italian organization for the promotion and protection of the health of African populations. It carries out long-term projects with a development perspective, intervening with this approach, even in emergency situations, to guarantee quality services accessible to all. Today Doctors with Africa CUAMM is involved in 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda) with over 4,500 operators in the field, of which 230 are Italian. It supports 23 hospitals, 80 districts (for public health activities, maternal and child care, the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and training), 3 nursing schools (in South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia) and 1 university in Mozambique .
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– 2024-04-25 16:09:34
