File photo shows a street view of Kigali, capital city of Rwanda, on Aug. 12, 2020. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)
Rwanda is making steady progress in the fight against malaria through a combination of actions including adopting drone technology, distribution of free mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying, and awareness campaigns.
KIGALI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Two years ago, Jovia Uwababyeyi contracted malaria and spent time getting treatment in a hospital. In the days leading up to that point, the 47-year-old mother of four had been busy working on a rice field where she earned a living.
"Unfortunately, I contracted malaria during a busy rainy season," Uwababyeyi, a resident of Gasabo district on the outskirts of Rwanda's capital city Kigali told Xinhua ahead of the World Malaria Day that fell on Monday.
"I spent a few days in hospital in 2020. I wasn't really feeling myself. A few days later two of my children fell sick from malaria, forcing them to miss school," she recalled.
In the swampy areas of Gasabo district, malaria infection was common among many residents.
Uwababyeyi rolls up the sleeves of her blouse and gently shows where she was injected during treatment.
"We continued to suffer from malaria at home even when we slept under mosquito nets. I suspect mosquito nets protected us during sleep but we were not protected when we went out in the rice fields...Malaria breeds poverty," added Uwababyeyi.
Surrounded by wetlands, a mosquito breeding ground, almost monthly one member of Uwababyeyi's family used to be infected with malaria, causing disruption to their productive work.
Luckily, this is no more following a new government intervention.
On March 10, 2020, in Uwababyeyi's area, Rwanda's Ministry of Health launched a pilot tech-driven program to test the effectiveness of using drones in the fight against malaria in high-risk zones, and it has proven effective.
Under the program, a mapping drone is used to identify the mosquito eggs and another drone used to spray in accordance with the exact coordinate.
Aimable Mbituyumuremyi, malaria and other parasitic diseases division manager, at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), told Xinhua that by using drones, the ministry hopes to essentially kill mosquito larvae in their habitats before they mature into mosquitoes, and protect people from a disease that claims more than half a million lives every year, most of them in Africa.
"Drones were used as a pilot program in Jabana sector in Gasabo district to assess their effectiveness. The results showed a significant reduction in mosquitoes in the area after spraying using drones," he said.
This year the program would be expanded to six districts to supplement other malaria preventive measures in place, and results from there would inform authorities on whether to widely roll it out.
Between 2017 and 2021 Rwanda reduced malaria cases by 76 percent, according to data released on Saturday by RBC.
In 2021, around 1.1 million malaria cases were registered, down from 4.8 million cases in 2017, it showed.
For severe malaria, 1,900 cases were registered in 2021, down from 11,000 cases in 2017, representing a 85 percent reduction.
In terms of fatalities, 69 related deaths were registered in 2021, down from 706 in 2016, a reduction of about 90 percent.
Meanwhile, malaria incidents were reduced from 409 out of 1,000 people in 2017 to 86 out of 1,000 in 2021, a significant improvement meaning the "country is moving towards eradicating malaria."
Mbituyumuremyi said the significant reduction in malaria cases is attributable to a combination of preventive measures. These include the distribution of free mosquito bed nets, indoor residual spraying, awareness campaigns, and the use of mosquito repellants.
The ministry has also scaled up malaria treatment using community health workers.
"Currently community health workers treat 60 percent of all malaria cases, up from 52 percent in 2017. This means patients access timely treatment which has played a key role in reducing fatalities," he said.
Indoor residual spraying has been applied in about 15 districts of the country which are worst affected by malaria.
Malaria cases could rise in April and May because of the rainy season, Mbituyumuremyi warned, and urged people to tighten preventive measures.
"Malaria is still with us, affecting different age groups across the country, we should all play our roles and own up to the existing preventive measures to protect ourselves and our family members," he said.
As the world marks World Malaria Day on April 25, Rwanda will use the occasion to step up awareness campaigns and indoor residual spraying, as well as distribute deworming tablets and mosquito nets.
This year, the government is set to distribute about 8 million mosquito bed nets, according to Mbituyumuremyi.
Malaria is a preventable, treatable disease but every year, malaria sickens more than 200 million people and kills more than 600,000, according to the World Health Organization.
Most of the victims are young children in Africa, who are most vulnerable. ■
