Victor Ayeni A United Nations-hosted platform, RBM Partnership to End Malaria, has called on governments and stakeholders to intensify its fight against the spread of malaria in the country. The RBM Partnership CEO, Dr Adekunle Charles, stated this during an interview with Saturday PUNCH on the sidelines of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa meeting in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. The 74th session of the WHO African Regional Committee Meeting which kicked off on Monday had featured closed-door sessions, agenda items and side events.
Speaking on the outbreak of malaria, Charles warned that while the past two decades saw progress in the fight against malaria, there had been resurgence in recent years. He said, “This is a disease that is intersecting with other inequalities and mostly affecting people on a continent that already has complex challenges that we have yet to properly address. “Biological threats in the form of malaria parasites resistant to treatment and mosquitoes resistant to insecticide are threatening our progress in the fight against malaria.
“We must move fast to outsmart the disease before it outsmarts us. That most of the world eliminated malaria decades ago but Africa still grapples with the disease is an unacceptable injustice – and an indication that we are not doing enough to end malaria.” The CEO also called for a multi-sectoral approach that recognised and addressed the way malaria affected other development aspect.
