The
Government of The Gambia in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) and the Global Fund on Tuesday hosted an event at Gambia
Coral Beach Hotel & Spa to celebrate the progress made towards eliminating
malaria in The Gambia.
Through
international investment and a strong Gambia-led campaign, there has been a
significant drop in the prevalence of malaria and of new infections of the
disease.
In
her welcoming remarks on the occasion, CRS Chief of Staff, Strategy and
Organizational Development, Annemarie Reilly, described malaria as a killer
disease that is preventable.
She
added that malaria has economic impacts as well as individual and societal
effects at large, noting that all these are what The Gambia is putting in the
past.
She
pointed out that a story of how The Gambia has been committed to the fight
against malaria has been written, adding that this has been possible from 2004
to 2014 with technical and financial support from the Global Fund to fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
CRS and other partners, the Gambia’s National
Malaria Control Program under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare saw the
country’s malaria parasite prevalence decrease dramatically from 4.0% in 2011
to 0.2% in 2014, she added.
Malaria
case incidence also fell by 50 per cent across all regions, she said,
describing it as a truly remarkable.
WHO
Country Representative, Professor Jean Marie Dangou, in his remarks, said the
success achieved in malaria prevention and control in The Gambia has been
enormous.
He congratulated the Ministry of Health and
Social Welfare, The Gambia Government, the people of The Gambia as well as all
partners for the hard work and great solidarity which led to the achievements.
According
to him, WHO is proud of The Gambia and would continue providing the needed
support to reach the malaria elimination target in the coming years.
Nicolas
Cantau, Global Fund Regional Manager, for his part, said they have invested
over US$150 million in supporting The Gambia, over half of which went to
malaria.
“We need more success stories like The
Gambia,” he stated.
Saffie
Lowe Ceesay, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said The Gambia is poised
to become the fourth country to eliminate malaria within its borders.
She
said that more resources and collaboration was required to reach these
monumental achievements, pointing out that malaria has historically being one
of the leading causes of mortality among children under-5 in The Gambia.
“It
is critical that we continue to pay more attention by bringing services closer
to the communities, promote and mobilize communities to utilize the services
and also adopt behaviors and practices that prevent infection such as
consistent sleeping under insecticide treated nets,” she urged.
Despite
the successes gained, the health minister said there are still challenges
facing the Gambia’s ability to completely eliminate malaria.
For
her part, the United States ambassador to The Gambia, Patricia Alsup, said the
U.S. government was committed to supporting the ideals of the New Gambian
administration.
“We are convinced that in a country like The
Gambia, with a government like President Barrow’s, and with the right tools and
strategies, malaria can be eliminated,” she said.
