Moroni, Comoros - Malaria claimed 53 victims, including 51 in Grande Comore, Anjouan and others, while no death has been recorded in the island of Moheli, between March 2010 and April 2011, according to the annual report of the National Programme of the Fight Against Malaria (PNLP) published in Moroni. The report says 103,670 clinical cases have been recorded this year, including 76,060 in Grande Comore, the largest island of the archipelago of the Comoros, Anjouan followed with more than 24,250 cases and only about 3,350 to Moheli, the smallest island of Comoros.

The PNLP expressed surprise at the increase in the number of clinical cases, compared to last year, during which only 57,084 cases were identified across the country during same period under review.

'The previous data are not reliable. This time, the investigation was serious and all structures were involved and everything has been done to collect correct and credible data,' said Dr. Timothy Guilavogui, medical epidemiologist and head of entomology.

According to Guilavogui, the distribution of mosquito treated nets and free coartem, the anti-malaria molecule currently used in the Comoros should reduce the number of malaria cases.

The spread of current malaria morbidity is 36 per cent nationally, against 41 per cent in 2007 and 50 per cent in 2004.

Between March 2010 and April 2011, 22,639 cases of severe malaria were recorded on the three islands that constitute the Union of Comoros, with 41 per cent (90,240 cases) involving children under five years, with a record of 81 per cent of these children in Grande Comore, according to PNLP.

Pana 12/07/2011