Insufficient funding is o­ne of the major challenges in treating malaria in East Africa, a new report by the World Health Organisation says. The World Malaria Report 2016 states that, between 2013 and 2015, East Africa spent as little as $4 for each person at risk of getting malaria.

This year, the region has received $150 million in funding from the US government for the implementation of malaria prevention programmes. The report comes at a time when Burundi has declared a malaria epidemic after 800 people died in less than four months.

Burundi Health Minister Josiane Nijimbere said the authorities had registered 1.8 million infections. Rwanda spends at least $3 per person at risk of malaria, while the other EAC states spend about $2 or below.

"There is a financial gap every year. If you don't have the budget, you cannot implement malaria interventions and some people are not covered," said Aimable Mbituyumuremyi, director of the malaria and other parasitic infections unit at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre.

According to the WHO, Uganda had the third highest number of infections in sub-Saharan Africa, and some of the highest reported malaria transmission rates in the world.

Eradication

In their five-year plans, all the East African countries plan to eradicate malaria by 2017 - or to at least reduce it to single digits.

This ambition seemed to be o­n track - especially for Rwanda - which was o­n the path to eliminate malaria between 2005 and 2011. However, since then, the government has reported an 11-fold increase in reported malaria cases, from 225,176 cases reported in 2011 to 2,662,706 in 2015.

"Climate change has been a major factor in this upsurge of malaria. This is the reason why malaria is increasing in the region," Dr Mbituyumuremyi said.

Being malaria-free by 2017 now seems more like a pipe dream for the region, with all countries recording an upsurge of infections since last year. In Africa, Uganda had the highest number of malaria infections in 2015, at 18 per cent, followed by Kenya with 14 per cent.

Other news »

---

• World Mosquito Day 2023 - Theme, Importance, & Slogans (08/18/2023)
• 'You get goosebumps from the data': hopes rise for new malaria vaccine (07/30/2022)
• Malaria in 2022: Increasing challenges, cautious optimism (06/30/2022)
• Ivermectin administration to livestock has greatest impact in West Africa (05/27/2019)
• To Halt Malaria, More Research Focused on Human Behavior Needed (02/14/2019)