Gbenga Oloniniran As the global community commemorate the World Mosquito Day 2024, experts from various African countries on Monday gathered to raise awareness of the differences between dengue and malaria infections. At the webinar hosted by AMA Academy, in collaboration with Target Malaria, RBM Partnership to End Malaria and African Leaders Malaria Alliance, the expert posited by effectively reducing the burden of malaria and dengue fever by 80 per cent, Africa would significantly boost its Gross Domestic Product. The programme had the theme: ‘Dengue or Malaria? How to distinguish mosquito-borne diseases.
’ The webinar centred on explaining misconceptions, and misinformation about the two diseases, and discovering the innovative, African-led technologies being used in the fight against them. The introductory speaker and Chief Executive Officer of RBM, Dr Michael Charles, said malaria and related infections had reduced human productivity over the years. He emphasised that lessening the burden created by malaria and dengue by 80 per cent would increase the continent’s Gross Domestic Product.
Charles said, “On the African continent, mosquitoes continue to cause havoc. We see it when we go to clinics, it’s either malaria or dengue. We see that the women are being affected because their children are in the hospital and they have to stay with them.
This is loss of productivity and loss of income. “We did this study recently where we found out that if we’re able to re.