Malaria: Continuous Menace

Information that the Ministry of Public Health has finally embarked on a campaign to distribute 10 million treated mosquito bed nets could simply be interpreted as another step in tackling a disease that is probably more dangerous than HIV/AIDS, even though little attention is attached to it. Some have explained the absence of public attention on malaria-related problems to the fact that it is a tropical ailment or a malady for the poor. Consequently, the launching by the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Public Health, Alim Hayatou, in Mayo Oulo, in the North Region of the distribution of the

bed nets could go a long way in stemming the spread of the disease that has continued to be a huge menace to the peoples and economies of most sub-Saharan African countries, including Cameroon. Caused by the plasmodium falciparum and transmitted by the Anopheles gambiae complex, malaria has over decades presented constant resistance to drugs and scientists link the resistance to the problems of climate change and population movements among other causes. Children and pregnant women had for the past been the main target for malaria treatment in Cameroon through the distribution of bed nets. Some research findings between 1985 and 2000 in Cameroon on the malaria burden in the country pointed out that ??pregnant women in malarious areas may experience a variety of adverse consequences from malaria infection including maternal anaemia, placental accumulation of parasites, low birth weight (LBW) from prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), fatal parasite exposure and congenital infection, and infant mortality (IM) linked to preterm-LBW and IUGR-LBW??. Targeting such a segment of the population for malaria prevention was, indeed good, but not enough. Thus, extending the measure to the entire population is obviously salutary and the question could be how such distribution would be equitably done in a population that has nearly 20 million inhabitants. While hoping that government authorities take into consideration the complexities of the disease in Cameroon in giving out the bed nets, the preventive role of the bed nets remains of capital importance in checking malaria spread. The measure will definitely help the poor masses, who are the most affected by malaria, to save time and money given that most cases of consultation in hospitals across the country are malaria-related. Another issue that has made the treatment of malaria a problem has been the absence of a vaccine. While scientists talk of continuous efforts to find a vaccine against malaria, some critics think little attention paid to malaria because it is affecting only the poor countries. Whatever the arguments, coordinated action appears imperative in handling malaria given that efforts within a state that excludes other stakeholders in the affected regions would obviously be limited in time and scope.

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