Mask Up, Malaria.
Tags: Coronavirus, Malaria, Public Health, African Healthcare, Africa

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What’s the Chop?

The fight against malaria has taken a back seat since the onset of COVID-19, and this does not bode well for public health in Africa.

There’s a fight against malaria?

We Africans are known for our jokes and quips about malaria, but the continent loses about 3,000 babies daily to malaria, and that is certainly no laughing matter. Take 2019 for example, 94% of malaria cases and deaths occurred in Africa, with six African countries accounting for about half of malaria deaths worldwide: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Niger. When you think about the fact that malaria is entirely curable and treatable, the fact and sheer size of these deaths is even more painful.

How was the fight going pre-COVID?

African leaders and global health partners stepped up big time: in 2000, they signed the landmark Abuja Declaration pledging to reduce malaria deaths by 50% over a 10-year period on the continent. They didn’t quite achieve their aim, but by 2015, the work they had done led to a 42% drop in the rate of infection, and a 66% drop in the death rate.

Right before the onset of COVID-19 though, progress seemed to have plateaued — 411,000 people died in 2018 and 409,000 people died in 2019. This was mostly due to funding gaps: in 2019, despite the $5.6 billion global target, only $3 billion was provided.

How are things going post-COVID?

For starters, the interventions for preventing the spread of coronavirus — lockdowns, movement restrictions, suspension of imports and exports — have led to disruptions in the accessibility and availability of essential malaria commodities like insecticidal nets, rapid diagnostic tests and antimalarial medicines. There was also a significantly reduced access to healthcare for many, out of a fear of infection. It also didn’t help that door-to-door vaccination activities — which had been introduced in a few countries and was proving successful — were brought to a complete halt. On top of all that, health donors like the Global Fund, also cut back on malaria funding and redirected this to COVID-19.

How are African countries responding?

With the economic impact of COVID-19 and loss of revenue, African countries have had to make a trade-off between financing COVID-19 prevention and management, or other killer diseases. The result has been a focus on COVID to the detriment of meeting broader healthcare requirements. According to WHO projections because of the pandemic, the 2020 global target for a reduction in malaria cases will be missed by 37%, and the target for reducing the death rate will be missed by 22%.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa has called on international partners and countries to do more to ensure resources are available to expand malaria programmes. Some international stakeholders — including the WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the Global Fund — have come together to develop and implement plans to address supply chain challenges across Africa.

Your Takeaway.

It feels like Africa is living with a multi-headed hydra when it comes to health — ebola, yellow fever, lassa fever, malaria, and now, coronavirus. On the other hand, it’s heartwarming to remember that earlier this year, polio was also in that chest of monsters, but now, it’s been declared eradicated from the continent — which is a fantastic reminder of what is possible with extensive education, investment in infrastructure, and consistency.

Now, with the coronavirus vaccine being rolled out in some countries, we are closer to seeing the end of that too. But this development has also given us pause, because it’s got us wondering: what if malaria was affecting more white babies? Wouldn’t there be a globally-accessible vaccine by now? If we ever needed a reminder to take better charge of our own solutions, this is it.