Cape Verde reaches malaria-free milestone
A sub-Saharan African country has achieved the milestone of being declared malaria-free for the first time in five decades.
The World Health Organization (WHO) granted Cape Verde this status, attributing it to the absence of any reported instances of local transmission over the past three years.
This accomplishment has been hailed as significant by experts, given the substantial toll that malaria exacts on the continent.
In 2022, 95% of the global fatalities, amounting to 580,000 deaths, occurred in Africa due to this disease caused by a complex parasite transmitted through mosquito bites.
While vaccines are now being deployed in certain regions, disease monitoring and avoiding mosquito bites remain the most effective preventive measures against malaria.
Cape Verde, a diminutive island nation situated off the West African coast, dedicated years to fortifying its health systems and enhancing access to diagnosis and treatment for all cases.
The achievement was realized through early detection of cases by surveillance officers and the implementation of mosquito control measures.
Additionally, Cape Verde’s malaria control strategy includes providing free care and diagnostic services to international travelers and migrants, aiming to curtail the influx of cases imported from the African mainland.
“This success reflects the hard work and dedication of countless health professionals, collaborators, communities, and international partners.
It is a testimony to what can be achieved through collective commitment to improving public health,” Cape Verde’s Health Minister Dr Filomena Gonçalves told the BBC.
Dr Dorothy Achu Fosah, from the WHO Africa office, added that her organization was “excited and pleased” with the results and the fact that malaria was “kicked out” from the country.
Health experts say Cape Verde’s achievement sets a big example for other small countries on the continent, showing that containment and elimination policies can work.
Malaria was once detected on all of Cape Verde’s nine inhabited islands, but in recent years could only be found on one, Sáo Tiago – where the final efforts were concentrated.
The WHO’s Dr Achu said the fact that the country is an archipelago is also an important factor in its success.
On an island, it is easier to map out the areas most affected by the disease and see how it is being transferred from one island to another, compared to a continuous land mass.
In badly affected countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a highly mobile population regularly crossing borders, making it difficult for one country to eradicate the disease on its own.
Cape Verde’s success “gives us hope that with existing tools, as well as new ones including vaccines, we can dare to dream of a malaria-free world”, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The last country in sub-Saharan Africa to be declared malaria-free was the island nation of Mauritius in 1973. Algeria, in North Africa, achieved this status in 2019.
