Malaria Awareness Programme

KARACHI: Health Department Sindh Karachi chapter has decided to organize seminar and awareness sessions across the city to create awareness about malaria in general public to mark the World Malaria Day being observed on 25th April world-widely every year.

Director Health Karachi Dr Zafar Ejaz said department has planned various awareness sessions and informative programs in the eve of world malaria day to create awareness about malaria at local level. He said awareness season will be held in Sindh Government New Karachi Hospital where experts will highlights the causes of malaria disease, preventive strategies and its management.

He said all town health officials have been directed to organize awareness sessions about malaria in their respective towns. He stressed the need of joint efforts to curb malaria.

In 2014, About 37,737 malaria cases had been recorded throughout the Sindh province by Malaria Control Program Sindh, while no death was reported from this disease last year.   In Karachi only 1,743 malaria cases were detected last year.

WHO calls to close gaps in prevention and treatment to defeat malaria disease:

According to press releases issued by World Health Organization (WHO), urging the global health community to urgently address significant gaps in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria. Despite dramatic declines in malaria cases and deaths since 2000, more than half a million lives are still lost to this preventable disease each year.

At least three quarters of malaria deaths occur in children under five-year. Yet in 2013, only about 1 in 5 African children with malaria received effective treatment for the disease, 15 million pregnant women did not receive a single dose of the recommended preventive drugs, and an estimated 278 million people in Africa still live in households without a single insecticide-treated bed net.

“As we celebrate World Malaria Day on April 25, we must recognize the urgent need to expand prevention measures and quality-assured diagnostic testing and treatment to reduce the human suffering caused by malaria,” says Dr Hiroki Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.