Health - The Africa regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Lius Gomes Sambo, on Friday disclosed that cases of malaria and deaths caused by the disease have slumped by 50% in 13 of the 46 WHO Africa region countries.
Speaking at a meeting with diplomats accredited to Congo in Brazzaville, he named the countries as South Africa, Algeria, Botswana, Cape Verde, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland, Zambia and Zanzibar (Tanzania).
The WHO regional director for Africa, who said he was pleased about the progress made in the fight against malaria, said 41 countries were using the artemisinin-based combination therapy.
He said that the percentage of households that had impregnated mosquito nets rose from 3% in 2000 to 53% last year.
The latest statistics reveal that in 2010, there were about 219 million cases of malaria in the world, which claimed the lives of about 660,000 people, or a drop in the mortality rate by 25% compared to 2000.
Most deaths are reported among children living in Africa, where every minute a child dies of malaria.
Pana 16/02/2013