Mozambique: Severe malaria cases down 17% in last four years, diagnosed cases up 14%

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Mozambique: Severe malaria cases down 17% in last four years, diagnosed cases up 14%

1:59 CAT | 26 Jul 2024

File photo: Folha de Maputo

Mozambican health authorities announced in Beira on Thursday that the country had recorded a 14% increase in malaria cases over the last four years.

“The increase in cases during this period reflects the improvement in our diagnostic capacity. We are testing more, so we are finding more cases,” said Ivan Manhiça, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health (MISAU).

Addressing the opening of the annual meeting of the National Malaria Control Program, Manhiça said that the country tested around 25 million people in 2023, against 19 million in 2020.

“The increase in malaria cases is also associated with other determining factors, such as climate change and poor sanitation, which encourage the mosquitoes that cause malaria to increase in number, as well as the lack of sufficient means for its prevention,” he declared.

According to the same source, Mozambique during the same period of time recorded a 17% reduction in “severe cases” , which fell from 69,286 cases in 2020 to 57,703 in 2023.

Malaria remains among the leading causes of death in the country in children under the age of five.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria is one of the deadliest diseases in Africa, killing almost half a million children under the age of 5 every year. In 2021, Africa accounted for approximately 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of deaths.

Source: Lusa