“If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.” —West African Proverb. While World Mosquito Day might not be a highlight on everyone’s calendars, good news has come for malaria elimination efforts thanks to many tiny actions building up into big change:
Pretoria, South Africa (20 August 2024) — The 20th of August marks World Mosquito Day. Hardly a celebration surrounding the cause of so many sleepless nights in the best cases and so many lives lost in the worst, the real cause for applause on this day is the progress made to enact more malaria elimination efforts.
At a glance, World Mosquito Day commemorates the 1897 discovery by British doctor Sir Ronald Ross that female anopheline mosquitos were and are responsible for transmitting malaria between humans. But this is not a day stuck in the past.
As is well known, the mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world, killing over 700,000 people every year. A West African proverb famously says, “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.” But, just as a single mosquito can wreak havoc, small decisions and efforts have the power to make significant changes for the better.
A fantastic example of this is the many small malaria elimination efforts that have added up significantly over the past two decades to the point that people are now safer than ever from the disease.
As the University of Pretoria’s Interim Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Themba Moria shares:
“Today more regions are malaria-free than ever before, with more countries reporting a decreasing number of malaria cases.”
But, the job is not done. As Professor Moria adds, half the world still lives at risk.
Taking action to protect more lives and prevent stagnation, malaria elimination efforts in the SADC region have received a significant boost thanks to a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the University of Pretoria Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP ISMC) and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership to End Malaria.
This MoU is aimed at enhancing and consolidating malaria elimination efforts with regional and international stakeholders like the World Health Organisation, the Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the National Department of Health and Goodbye Malaria all joining forces.
This indicates positive strides in malaria elimination efforts that will rely on collaborative and cross-boarder approaches to solutions set to lift burdens off medical practitioners while investigating more nitty gritty details of the disease, its causes and its impact in an ever-changing environment.
“The aim is to make significant strides in reducing the burden of malaria and addressing major global concerns affecting its prevalence through capacity building initiatives, student support initiatives, the implementation of impactful projects addressing challenges such as resource mobilisation and climate change, and the strengthening of cross-border collaboration,” explains Dr Taneshka Kruger, UP ISMC’s Project Manager.
Professor Tiaan de Jager (Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at UP and the Director of the UP ISMC adds that the collaborative efforts will enhance capabilities and extend reach.
“Together, we will leverage collaborative research, share best practices and develop comprehensive strategies to address the root cause of malaria.”
Weighs in Ednah Baloyi, Director of Malaria and other Vector-Borne Diseases at South Africa’s National Department of Health:
“We all know that malaria knows no bounds, borders or boundaries, and neither should our efforts to combat it.”
Dr Michael Adekunle Charles, CEO of the RBM Partnership, says: “The signing of this MoU for me demonstrates collaboration and the will to innovate and work together with academia. I believe innovation, from an intersectional point of view, is important. We need to explore linkages between malaria and gender, malaria and humanitarian efforts, malaria and the climate change challenges, and other important issues surrounding the disease.”
Dr Douglas Tendai Mombeshora, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Health and incoming Chairperson of the SADC Ministerial Committee on Health, commended the MoU, saying it is an important milestone because it will, among other things, provide support to the region’s medical practitioners, who are managing the disease at the local level. He emphasised that it is the role of governments to own the processes of eliminating malaria by providing clear, sound, and impactful leadership.
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