The ManicaPost
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Reporter
MANICALAND is bracing for a surge in malaria cases following a delayed rainfall season and the interruption of control programmes by Covid-19.
The province is one of the country’s malaria hotspots, with five out of its seven districts among the top 10 districts with the highest burden countrywide.
By November last year, Manicaland had recorded over 100 malaria deaths, a figure which the Ministry of Health and Child Care described as worrisome.
Manicaland Provincial Medical Director, Dr Simon Nyadundu, said by the second week of this year alone, one death and 3 400 cases had been recorded, compared to two deaths and 4 738 cases over the corresponding period last year.
However, the number of cases is expected to increase significantly as a result of the delay in the rainfall season which is expected to prolong the malaria season further into May.
“Generally, there is an increase in malaria cases compared to last year. The trend has been affected by the late arrival of rains, therefore (it is) anticipated that the malaria season will stretch further into May. This can be attributed to the delayed season and incessant rains which disrupts the breeding cycle of malaria carrying mosquitoes. Hence, we expect a sharp increase as we get more days without sunshine,” he said.
Dr Nyadundu said good rains unfortunately increase breeding sites for mosquitoes which thrive in stagnant or pooled water bodies.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care carries out annual malaria control programmes, particularly the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), but this year, the programme has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Nyadundu said movement restrictions internationally had delayed the shipment of insecticides used for the IRS programme. This also delayed the commencement of the programme.
“The target start was in September, but other districts started as late as November 2020, which meant IRS could not be finished by December 2020. Continuation of IRS into January 2021 means a lot of disruptions by rains (we cannot spray when it is raining) and in farming areas people are sometimes unavailable as they will be in the fields,” he said.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also put a strain on the community based health care workers who test and treat malaria as they have had to test for both diseases in patients.
“The symptoms of malaria are to a large extent the same as Cvoid-19 which means anyone who has symptoms should be tested for both diseases. This means community based health care workers who test and treat malaria have been supplied with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to make sure they are safe in the line of duty,” he added.
Community based health care workers have over the years played a critical role in efforts to curb malaria as they treat about 50 percent of all reported cases.
The districts that have reported high incidents of malaria include Nyanga, Mutasa, Chipinge, Chimanimani and Mutare districts and are on the border with Mozambique.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care last year rolled out a joint initiative with the neighbouring country in an effort to combat malaria along the borderline.
The two countries signed a regional agreement, the Elimination Aid strategy, which seeks to come up with border strategies on how to deal with malaria.
“Communities staying in the borderline used to have a challenge because for the Zimbabwean side, they are a high burden and a priority area for malaria control interventions. But on the Mozambican side, the districts that we share a border with are not priority districts for that country because they have other areas with a high burden that they focus most of their activities on,” Dr Nyadundu told The Manica Post last year.
Through the collaboration, clinics have since been set up on both sides of the border where people from either side can access health services and the statistics are submitted to the respective country to allow the Governments to monitor the malaria trends and put in place interventions that will assist in reducing the burden of malaria.
