The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has confirmed the efficiency of mosquito nets treated with insecticide, indicating that its use had trebled since 2003 in 16 African countries.
In a communiqué issued on Friday on the occasion of the first celebration of the World Malaria Day, UNICEF said “Ethiopia distributed 18 million mosquito nets treated with long-lasting insecticide since 2005, and Kenya distributed 10 million over the past five years”.
Mrs. Ann Veneman, a UNICEF official, said “this is a great success” due to concerted actions, despite the fact that a lot remains to be done to save some 800,000 Central African children still dying of malaria every year.”
Apart from the use of mosquito nets, UNICEF has laid the emphasis on the adoption, since 2003 by African countries, of polytherapies based on artemisinin (ACT), recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for their efficiency.
“To control malaria, much larger-scale interventions are needed, along with sustainable financing, participation and management by the communities and partners a tglobal, regional and national levels”, UNICEF advocated while confirming the availability of resources in favour of the fight against the disease.
“Thanks to greater sensitisation to malaria in the world, available resources increased significantly over the past few years, through the Global Fund for Aids,
Tuberculosis and Malaria Control, the US presidential Anti-Malaria Initiative, the World Bank, UNICEF and others that now help improve quickly the coverage of ant i-malaria interventions and to take them to a bigger scale”, the world body said.
UNICEF is the biggest supplier of treated mosquito nets in the world, with the distribution of 18.8 million in 2007, with more than 90 per cent distributed to pregnant women and young children. Panapress .
