📌DANIEL MSANGYA
THE United Republic of Tanzania has declared the launch of its first national Zero Malaria Starts with Me Campaign, becoming the 11th nation to join the ever-growing Pan-African movement. The campaign was launched during the Southern African Community (SADC) Malaria Day that was commemorated on the sidelines of the SADC Health Minister’s Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last November. At the national level, the campaign seeks to mobilize political will, additional resources (especially from domestic sources), and community ownership in the fight against malaria.
The event inaugurated at Kibaha in the Coastal Region, accelerated Tanzania to join Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Eswatini, Niger, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal, Mauritania and Mozambique to have rolled out national Zero Malaria initiatives since the Pan-African launch led by the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and the African Union Commission in July 2018. Starting in Senegal in 2014, the Zero Malaria Movement now spans across the continent.
According to RBM Partnership to End Malaria, significant progress has been made in Africa with a 40 per cent reduction in mortality rates and 20 per reduction of incidence in this decade alone. The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a World Malaria Report showing that malaria cases in the 10 highest burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa were on the rise. “Zero Malaria Starts with Me therefore aims to speed up progress by inspiring a continent-wide movement to drive Malaria elimination,” part of the report says adding that Tanzania is among the highest burden countries with 93% of the population at risk of malaria, accounting for 5% of global malaria deaths.
According to the RBM Partnership Press statement, the Pan-African movement seeks to build community ownership of Malaria efforts and increase political commitment for Malaria elimination against malaria by engaging political leaders at all levels; mobilizing resources and funding and by empowering communities to hold leaders accountable in the fight against Malaria.
The Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ummy Mwalimu notes that alongside the launch of its Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign, Tanzanian officials commemorated SADC Malaria Day with the launch of the Tanzania Malaria scorecard that will further enhance accountability and action towards Malaria control and elimination. Another event was an innovative application, also launched to enhance the use of the scorecard to drive action, including by parliamentarians.
Mwalimu said the launch also saw a visit to the country’s Medical Stores Department - an autonomous department responsible for the delivery and management of approved medicines and medical supplies, and included demonstrations of vector control including LLINs and larvicides, showing the huge potential that Africa, has to locally manufacture commodities.
She adds that the campaign builds on our sustained efforts to make sure that Malaria prevention and treatment services reach all areas in need.
The campaign will foster partnerships and provide for leadership and accountability including resource mobilization. However, to achieve effective results and eliminate Malaria we need to ensure that we reach and mobilize our communities to be active champions in Malaria interventions, including larviciding
said Mwalimu.
In the official statement to commemorate the event, the Chief Executive Officer, RBM Partnership to End Malaria, Dr Abdourahmane Diallo commended Tanzania for taking bold actions, “We are thrilled that Tanzania has joined the ever-growing list of nations to declare Zero Malaria Starts with Me on SADC Malaria Day. As a high burden country, this is an important moment for Tanzania to make progress against the disease, and ultimately end malaria. Through this initiative, communities will be able to hold their leaders accountable in the fight against Malaria, to ensure that much-needed progress is driven.”
Dr Diallo promised to support the move adding that, “We believe that we are stronger when we work together, and we hope that other high-burden nations follow Tanzania in stepping up the fight and joining our campaign to save even more lives from this deadly, but treatable disease.”
The Executive Secretary, The African Leaders Malaria Alliance, Joy Phumaphi said the launch of the Zero Malaria Starts With Me Campaign and the Tanzania Malaria scorecard for accountability and action and accompanying app reaffirms the commitment of the Tanzanian leadership to achieve national and continental targets to eliminate Malaria by 2030.
It is obvious that increasing domestic investments and political will in Malaria including an increased role for the private sector and to work with the public sector to mobilize ring-fenced resources for Malaria will ensure that the responses are sustainable, contributing to healthier lives, human capital development and shared prosperity and economic growth.
0 Comments