It
is good news that The Gambia is today celebrating progress made towards malaria
elimination in the country, as declared in a recent collaborative workshop
involving The Gambia Government, the U.S. Embassy, Catholic Relief Services
(CRS) and the Global Fund.
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, according to reports from the workshop.
Reasons
advanced for this development stride are that with substantial support from
international institutions and the Gambia government, services have been
brought closer to the communities, which attracted and mobilized communities to
utilize the services and also adopt behaviours and practices that prevent
infection, such as consistent sleeping under insecticide treated nets.”
Despite
the successes gained, the health minister said, there are still challenges
facing The Gambia’s ability to completely eliminate malaria.
While
we are much happy to note that we are a success story to be emulated, we
believe we should not rest on our laurels. As the health minister said, there
are still challenges facing our society. Some of these challenges may start
with how clean we continue to keep our environment, to prevent filth, rubbish
and still or stinky pothole water on our streets.
We
are beginning to sense a spirit of laxity in maintaining the regular national
cleansing exercise (set settal) we have been used to over the recent years,
which must have contributed immensely to the progress and good result in
malaria elimination we are celebrating today. The regular cleansing exercise
needs to be maintained, as we are humans, and as we live we generate dirt and
rubbish around us, which provide breeding ground for mosquitoes and other harmful
insects as well as all sorts of pathogens.
We
therefore need to be alive and kicking in the upkeep of our environment to
prevent filth and still water that would create malaria vectors and dangerous
pathogens that could harm our lives and render us unhealthy.
More
so, we have seasonal rains that filled our bad roads with waters that get still
and stink in the spattering potholes, rain-made wells and streams on our roads
and streets, thereby continually providing safe haven for mosquitoes that
transmit malaria.
We
therefore cannot afford to rest on our laurels and think that malaria is gone.
It is not; so let's keep up with our set settal.
“Health
is wealth”
The
Point